


Palmetto Ghost Hunters

by EmmmaMmmm



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Canonical Character Death, Childhood Trauma, Death, Established Relationship, Explicit Language, Gang Violence, Gangs, Ghosts, Graphic Description of Corpses, Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Inspired by Buzzfeed Unsolved, Internalized Homophobia, Minor Character Death, Multi, Non-Graphic Violence, Original Character(s), Supernatural Elements, YouTube, Youtuber AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:34:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26819623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmmmaMmmm/pseuds/EmmmaMmmm
Summary: Nathan Wesninski was known for being a public family man. He had a beloved wife, Mary Wesninski (neé Hatford) who had moved from Birmingham in the UK in order to marry him, and together, by 1936, they had a two year old son called Nathaniel who looked just like him. For all intents and purposes, they were the typical happy family.Nathan Wesninski died in 1991 in prison, at the age of 88. Mary would've been 84. Nathaniel would be 57. Both Mary and Nathaniel, however, have been presumed dead since Nathan's arrest in 1950. Their bodies have never been found.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 7
Kudos: 77





	1. The Mysterious Disappearance of Mary and Nathaniel Wesninski

**Author's Note:**

> God, this was so much fun to write. Genuinely, made me so happy. That being said, I think it ended up a little darker than anything else I've written on here? But I think it's probably the perfect mix of super dark and a little bit light and funny.
> 
> Content Warnings: Graphic descriptions of dead bodies, non-graphic descriptions of violence, implied/referenced child abuse, implied domestic violence, references to murder, explicit language, mild sexual references.
> 
> I might write more of these, hence why this is technically incomplete, but I don't know if or when that'll happen so I'm not gonna make any promises.

_Infamous Wesninski house..._   
_... will be searching for the ghosts of Mary and Nathaniel Wesninski..._   
_Nobody has ever found their bodies..._   
_We will be the ones-_   
_We will be the ones-_   
_We will be the ones-_   
_We will be the ones to find Mary and Nathaniel Wesninski._

**Nicky**  
He- _llo_ , wonderful viewers! My name is Nicky Hemmick, and you may know me from such Youtube channels as The Monsters or any appearances I've made on any other channels! I am joined today by my dear cousins, Aaron and Andrew Minyard, our dearest friend, Kevin Day, and the newest addition to the group, our new recruit, Neil Josten!

You may be asking yourself - what is this channel even about, Nicky? Well, if you were asking yourself that, congratulations! You're about to get an answer! But first, some context. Many of you ask why Kevin and I get along oh so well when we share no interests. Well, fret not, dear viewers, because we do in fact share interests. Sort of.

Kevin, as you are probably aware, has a keen interest in History of all sorts. I, on the other hand, am fascinated by the concept of ghosts. Therefore, we realised that the two of us would make a wonderful ghost-hunting team. Of course, we couldn't leave our lovely Twinyards - as you all like to call them - behind, so here they are with us today. And Neil - sweet, innocent, little Neil - is simply here because where Andrew goes, he goes.

**Neil**  
Hey!

**Nicky**  
Sorry, babe, I'll make it up to you later, if you know what I'm saying.

**Andrew**  
Nicky...

**Nicky**  
Anyway... Today we're here at the Wesninski House in Baltimore, Maryland, looking into the case of Mary and Nathaniel Wesninski. Kevin, take it away?

**Kevin**  
I'm so glad you asked.

***

Andrew took Neil's hand as they stepped over the threshold. Aaron ignored it, Nicky pointedly moved the camera away from it, and Kevin sent them a wary look, but ultimately said nothing. Neil felt the warm embrace of Andrew's fingers clasping at his and it was almost enough to take away from the horror that was the Wesninski house.

It looked like a regular family house, although that maybe wasn't entirely accurate given that it was so much larger than any regular family house, with eight bedrooms, six bathrooms, and three storeys plus a basement. It was big, and old, and the floorboards creaked as they stepped inside. Andrew squeezed Neil's hand and then let go, stepping away to hover at Kevin's side.

"It's fucking cold," said Kevin, idly.

"It's a massive house which has been abandoned for the last twenty years with no central heating and-" Andrew thrust his arm out in a sweeping motion. "-no furniture. And you're expecting it to be warm?"

Kevin scowled. "Fuck you."

"Fuck you too."

"Hey," said Nicky, snapping his fingers in their faces. "Focus up, boys. We've got a job to do. And for once it doesn't involve bitching at each other."

Neil hummed. "But _can it_?"

Nicky levelled an unimpressed gaze at Neil. "You are a demon in disguise."

"That's not fair," said Andrew. "He's not trying to disguise it at all."

Nicky sighed. "You are the bane of my existence, both of you."

***

**Kevin**  
The story of the Wesninski house actually dates back to the 1800s, when it was built as a schoolhouse for boys, which was shut down after a few years when evidence surfaced of severe abuse towards the students from both staff and other students. After that, it was home to a politician, then briefly a foster home, and then in 1932, it was bought by wealthy businessman Nathan Wesninski.

Nathan Wesninski was known for being a public family man. He had a beloved wife, Mary Wesninski (neé Hatford) who had moved from Birmingham in the UK in order to marry him, and together, by 1936, they had a two year old son called Nathaniel who looked just like him. For all intents and purposes, they were the typical happy family.

In 1935, the year after Nathaniel was born, three men went missing around Baltimore, all within a few miles of the house. In that same year, Mary Hatford was put into hospital. The hospital records show that she was suffering from severe abdominal bruising and it was presumed that she had a pretty heavy concussion. The records stated that she was involved in a minor workplace accident while visiting one of Nathan's businesses, but knowing what we know now, this seems unlikely.

In 1939, when Nathaniel was five years old, he too was admitted to the hospital, though this was just for an appendectomy, and not really important to the case. By that time, a further seventeen men and four women had gone missing around Baltimore, again all within a few miles of the Wesninski house. Around this time, Nathan was briefly arrested on a suspected embezzlement charge, but he was quickly released due to minimal evidence.

Finally, in 1945, as the war was drawing to a close, Mary and Nathaniel were witnessed getting on a train out of Baltimore. This is the last recorded sighting of either of them. Nathaniel was eleven years old.

**Nicky**  
Fuck... He was really young. Did Nathan kill him then?

**Kevin**  
We're getting to it, Nicholas.

**Nicky**  
Sorry, History Daddy.

**Kevin**  
Jesus fuck...

In 1956, police were called out after shots were fired at the Wesninski house. Upon arrival, there appeared to be nobody around until they went down to the basement, whereupon they found several bodies in varying degrees of dismemberment. One report claims that there were several decapitated heads on display.

**Andrew**  
How many is several?

**Kevin**  
I don't think they stated a specific number.

**Andrew**  
Boring. How am I supposed to know what I'm aiming to beat?

**Kevin**  
You sicken me.

**Andrew**  
Thank you. Continue?

**Kevin**  
Yeah, so obviously they arrested Nathan Wesninski, and while they were questioning him, they asked him about his wife and son. See, he confessed to almost fifty other murders, which had up to that point only been declared missing persons cases, but he hadn't said a word about his wife and son. And he never did.  
Nathan Wesninski died in 1991 in prison, at the age of 88. Mary would've been 84. Nathaniel would be 57. Both Mary and Nathaniel, however, have been presumed dead since Nathan's arrest in 1956. Their bodies have never been found.

**Neil**  
Have they...

**Nicky**  
Have they what?

**Neil**  
No, it sounds really messed up.

**Andrew**  
Never stopped you before.

**Neil**  
Well I just wanted to know if they'd checked the walls. Like... I would imagine there's probably bodies behind there.

**Kevin**  
They did, actually. They found seven of the bodies behind bricked up walls in the basement, but none of those belonged to either Mary or Nathaniel Wesninski, unfortunately.

**Nicky**  
God, what a fucked up dude.

**Aaron**  
I guess that makes for better entertainment at least.

**Nicky**  
God, what a fucked up cousin I have.

**Andrew**  
I don't think I did anything wrong this time.

**Nicky**  
Let's just carry on, shall we?

***

"So are we trying to find their bodies while we're here, or are we just putting on a show?" Andrew leaned against the counter next to Neil. The so-called Monsters (or, as Nicky was trying to get them to agree to, the _Palmetto Ghost Hunters_ ) had found themselves in the kitchen as they'd walked through the house.

Nicky flicked a loose strand of hair out of his eyes, typing on his phone, probably messaging one of his current interests. "I mean, if we find their bodies while we're here then that's fucking great, but we're first and foremost here... to find some fucking ghosts."

Neil flicked his gaze over to Andrew, rolling his eyes. Andrew smirked back, settling his hand against the counter behind Neil's back, brushing his thumb against the fabric of his t-shirt. Neil leaned into the touch, letting out a small breath that Andrew could only hear because they were right next to each other.

"And how are you proposing we do that?"

"Well..." Nicky smirked. "I was thinking we'd start with a Ouija board-"

"Oh God," groaned Aaron.

"-and if we really wanna see if Mary and Nathaniel are here, I also brought the dousing rods."

"Somehow it got worse," frowned Andrew. "We brought alcohol, right? I'm gonna need it to get through this."

"Nope," sighed Aaron. "We have been cursed to go through this sober. I blame you, Josten."

"Fuck you," said Neil, though he only seemed half aware of what he was saying. "We're gonna go on a tour of the house first, right?"

Andrew's hand pressed into the small of Neil's back firmly. Neil closed his eyes for a moment, sinking into the warmth it brought him.

Nicky gasped excitedly. "Yeah! Let's go find Nathaniel's old bedroom!"

"And he calls me the sociopath?" Andrew tutted, taking the last step and slipping his arm around Neil's waist, fingers brushing against his hip over his t-shirt. Neil tilted sideways, resting his arm against the line of Andrew's chest, strong as though it could hold the weight of the entire world. Compared to that, Neil was nothing.

"I heard that," sang Nicky, tilting his head up to pout in Andrew's direction. "Just for that, you're on filming duty. Neil, baby, you're with me."

Neil shot his head back around to Andrew, sending him a panicked look, a look that said no and help me and don't leave me alone to deal with this. Andrew shrugged, squeezing his hip gently.

"You're the boss bastard," he said, his voice a monotone.

Nicky wrinkled his nose. "Did you just call me a bastard?"

"No," corrected Andrew. "I called you a _boss_ bastard. God, learn to listen when people talk, Nicky."

***

**Nicky**  
So here we are in Nathaniel's childhood bedroom. The walls... God, this is haunting. The walls are pastel yellow and there are... god, little ducks all around the bottom like a border. And... Fuck me, is that what I think it is?

**Aaron**  
Oh god...

**Nicky**  
Here on the doorframe, we can see different marks of Nathaniel's height growing up... Shit.

**Kevin**  
God, that's chilling. Just... seeing that these people I've read about are real people.

**Nicky**  
Right?

Anyway, they cleared out most of the furniture in here after Wesninski's arrest, so all that's left here is the wallpaper, the doorframe and the bed where Nathaniel slept.

Side note, I mean... God, can you imagine what that poor kid went through? I mean, okay so his father was a serial killer but... you've got to assume that he was pretty fucking abusive too. I mean... What was it you were saying earlier about Mary and Nathaniel both being put into hospital, Kev?

**Kevin**  
Honestly, Nathaniel's was just a simple appendectomy. It was Mary's hospital stay that was suspicious. But yes, I would imagine that Nathan Wesninski was greatly abusive towards his son.

**Nicky**  
God, he must've suffered so much. I hope he's at peace now.

**Neil**  
Is that what you think dying is like? Peaceful?

**Nicky**  
Well, yeah. Don't you?

**Neil**  
I think dying is just another stage of existence. Not peaceful, not torment, just... existence. Numb, maybe. Empty.

**Kevin**  
Thank you Mr Sunshine And Rainbows, and might I say that you will definitely _not_ be invited to my birthday party.

**Neil**  
I would invite you to my birthday party!

**Nicky**  
If you even told us when it is. You're like a cryptid, Neil.

**Neil**  
And that is exactly how it shall remain. Care to tell us more about how Nathaniel's bedroom is haunting and chilling in its emptiness?

**Nicky**  
Okay, first of all, fuck you. Second of all, yes. This room is said to have a lot of paranormal activity. Visitors have claimed to hear a child crying, and one even said that they heard a voice saying, "help me, Mama, I'm trapped underneath the floorboards". With no breaks in the case, police used this as a clue and searched beneath the floorboards in every room of the house, but this search proved fruitless and the woman who had allegedly heard this was later discredited.

**Andrew**  
Fuck... what did that kid have to live through if people literally heard his ghost crying?

**Neil**  
His alleged ghost, Andrew.

**Nicky**  
Oh shun the non-fucking-believer. Ghosts are real and you're being petty for arguing otherwise.

**Neil**  
Oh trust me, Nicky, I am the first to say that ghosts are possibly real.

**Nicky**  
I hate you.

**Aaron**  
Oh hey, now you sound like Andrew!

***

"Alright, I think next we should go and find Nathan and Mary's bedroom!" Nicky hopped up excitedly, hands twitching over the camera. Kevin seemed equally as excited, and there was a bored expression on Aaron's face but when Nicky gestured for him to leave, he went willingly, which just left Neil and Andrew on their own in Nathaniel Wesninski's childhood bedroom.

"Ghosts are possibly real, huh?"

Neil rolled his eyes as though he was annoyed, but as Andrew stepped further into his space, he lifted his arms to circle his shoulders, tugging him closer until their chests could brush if they took a breath. Neil sighed, closing his eyes.

"Possibly," he said, his lips twitching in amusement.

Andrew wanted to kiss that look off of his face, so he did, hands falling to Neil's waist in an effort to pull him closer than he already was.

"What do you think of that then? Help me, Mama, I'm trapped beneath the floorboards?"

Neil hummed quietly against his lips. "If I had to hazard at an educated guess... I'd say maybe it was a punishment. If Nathaniel was too loud, too twitchy, too... Too anything really... Nathan would stick him underneath the floorboards and trap him there until he'd learned his lesson."

"I wish I'd had the chance to kill him myself," growled Andrew. His grip tightened microscopically at Neil's waist but the moment Neil opened his mouth to protest, the hands were gone. "What a truly heinous human being."

"To a child," whispered Neil, "he probably seemed like a monster."

"To a child," whispered Andrew back, "a ghost is a monster."

"Why - Andrew Minyard? Believing in ghosts? Why, I never thought I'd see the day!" Neil grinned at the unimpressed look that came over Andrew's face. He let his hand slide down from his shoulder to tangle in his. "We should go make sure Nicky doesn't piss off any powerful spirits."

"You think there are powerful spirits in this house?"

Neil shrugged. "Nathan killed a hell of a lot of people in this house. Makes sense that eventually one would be powerful enough to raise a little hell. Especially if encouraged by a queer, half Mexican twink with an incessant need to make sure that everyone in the vicinity knows that he is the gayest of all the gays."

"I can't believe that you managed to describe Nicky in less than thirty words." Andrew looked up at him, unblinking. "You are a _wonder_ , Neil Josten."

"Don't say things like that," teased Neil, "somebody might think you actually like me."

"God forbid."

"Shall we go, Mr Minyard?"

"Yes, I think we shall, Mr Josten."

***

**Nicky**  
Alright, fuckers, onto Nathan and Mary's bedroom now. Or rather Nathan's bedroom, because after the disappearance of his wife and son, the general consensus is that he jumped into bed with one of his "assistants", Miss Lola Malcolm.

**Kevin**  
Lola Malcolm was about a decade younger than Nathan Wesninski, but her brother, Romero, worked closely with him and it's hardly surprising that when looking for a mistress, he turned to her. Malcolm was described as seductive, tempting, and dangerous like a poison dart frog. This description of her actually came later, because when Nathan confessed to his crimes, he also declared that Lola had been his ally in getting rid of the bodies.

**Nicky**  
Yeah, and similarly, her brother Romero was a part of the team too. He was, according to the records, the one who stepped in if it looked like things were getting out of hand, or if there was too much to be done for Nathan Wesninski to handle. This was a job also assigned to two other people, Jackson Plank and Patrick DiMaccio.

**Kevin**  
Basically, this was an early-ish case of organised crime, covered up by the facade of an often-publicised businessman who seemed to cherish his family. If it wasn't so horrifying and unfair, it would almost be impressive, the level to which all of this was covered up. I mean, somebody had to know, right?

**Nicky**  
Yeah, I mean soundproofing wasn't really a thing then, right?

**Kevin**  
Not from what I can remember.

**Nicky**  
Killing people probably isn't quiet, right? One of the neighbours had to have heard.

**Kevin**  
That's the theory. Which makes this entire thing so much worse. If we assume that Nathan did in fact kill his wife and son, it also stands to reason that this could have all been prevented if somebody had just come forward.

**Andrew**  
Oh, we could spend forever talking about what ifs. Let's talk facts. Or supposed facts. What do people think they've experienced in this room?

**Nicky**  
Am I dreaming? Is Andrew the one moving things along?

**Andrew**  
Well somebody has to, and Neil and Aaron don't care enough to do so.

**Nicky**  
That's not true! Right?

**Aaron**  
I literally could not care less about this video.

**Neil**  
What? Did you say something?

**Nicky**  
Okay, point taken. Let's get onto the paranormal shit then, shall we?

Some guests report a man laughing, scraping like nails on a chalkboard, and that sort of tshing sound when you're sharpening a knife. This is particularly important because Nathan Wesninski would later be given the moniker The Butcher of Baltimore for the way he cut bodies apart with, admittedly most often, a cleaver but more often than not a knife. One guest even claimed that they woke in the middle of the night to a heavy weight on top of them, and something invisible pressed against their throat.

People have also heard tapping like fingernails on wood, a woman laughing and, in one case, moaning-

**Andrew**  
In a sexy way?

**Nicky**  
What?

**Andrew**  
Like, was the woman moaning like _oh god, give me more, Wesninski_ or was it more like a deep, endless moan of eternal despair?

**Nicky**  
I would assume probably the latter, but somehow nobody ever thought to clarify.

**Andrew**  
Inconsiderate. That could be evidence of a really horny ghost.

**Kevin**  
I can't believe I'm stuck with you.

**Aaron**  
You're stuck with all of us. How does that feel, Day?

**Kevin**  
I would literally sacrifice all of your souls to Lucifer for a five minute break from you.

**Andrew**  
Bold of you to assume that we have souls, first of all. Even bolder of you to assume that Lucifer would want them.

**Neil**  
Also, I don't think I was doing anything just now. I've been pretty quiet this whole time.

**Nicky**  
Exactly! You're gonna pick on an angel like our baby, Neil?

**Kevin**  
Okay, now you sound like Matt.

**Nicky**  
Yeah, you're right. Shall we try the Ouija board?

***

When they settled into a circle with the Ouija board between them, Neil had Andrew on his right, their sides pressing into each other until they were sharing body heat, and Kevin on his left, significantly further away. Andrew was buffeted on his other side by Aaron, and between Aaron and Kevin sat Nicky, who would apparently be leading the session. Neil exchanged a glance with Andrew at that declaration - if anyone was going to summon a demon and attach it to one of them, they already knew that it was Nicky.

Still, they let him place his fingers on the planchette first before they reached forward, first Kevin, then Andrew and Neil as one, and then Aaron with a frustrated huff.

"If there are any spirits here with us," said Nicky, his voice taking on a dreamy tone that made Andrew want to vomit, "please move the planchette to the Yes." Nothing happened for a moment, then it started moving towards the upper right corner where the No was written.

Aaron grinned. "Pedantic little shit, huh?"

"Aaron," hissed Nicky, "don't disrespect the spirits. He doesn't mean that, spirits!" Nicky raised his voice as though shouting would help them to hear. "Who are we talking to? Do you have a name?"

They watched the planchette slide. M-A-R-Y.

"Mary Wesninski," gaped Kevin, then he turned an accusing gaze on Andrew. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"I'm not doing anything," said Andrew, widening his eyes in an attempt to feign innocence. Aaron let out a low snort from beside him, and he expected something similar from Neil but instead he just shuffled sideways until he was as close to Andrew as he could be without being sat in his lap. "This is all the spirits."

"Is there something you would like to say to us?" Nicky's eyes glimmered, apparently ignoring Kevin's accusations.

The planchette moved again. N-A-T-H-A-N-I-E-L. It circled for a moment, then shifted almost instantly into quick letters. Andrew watched closely, committing it all to memory. When "Mary" was done, Nicky and Kevin looked lost.

"Do not look back," said Andrew, and he felt the way Neil tensed up next to him. "Do not slow down. Never be anyone for too long."

"She said Nathaniel just before," hummed Kevin. "We know they ran away together. Maybe that's something that she would tell him while they were on the ru-"

"Shut up, Kevin," gasped Nicky, as the planchette began to move again. "Look!"

Andrew watched again. "You should not have come back here, Nathaniel."

Nicky looked up at Andrew with wide eyes, full of wonder and excitement. Meanwhile, Neil's tiny body was full of tension, pouring out of every vestibule right next to Andrew, seeking comfort in his body heat. Andrew leaned to the side, doing his best to offer that support.

"Is Nathaniel here too?" Nicky looked around, as though expecting a figure to appear. When nobody did, he looked back at the planchette.

Because Neil was pressed up against him, only Andrew could feel the way his arms strained when the planchette moved next.

"Yes." Kevin's tongue flicked out between his teeth. "Is that you, Nathaniel?" The planchette circled over the yes. "Is there anything you would like to say to us?"

"Or maybe," added Nicky, "in response to Mary?"

The planchette was still for a moment, then it began to move. Andrew watched as it scrambled across the board for a moment.

"In 1953, I was 19 years old," he read off and Kevin's eyes widened too, matching Nicky in pure awe. "My father caught up to me in Arizona. Cut off my ankles, my wrists. Slid the tendons at the back of my knees. He tortured me for hours." Andrew grimaced as the words kept coming. Nicky, rightly so, now looked more sickened than excited. "I died from blood loss after almost a full day. He buried me beneath the floorboards."

"Nathaniel," said Nicky softly. "That can't be true. They've searched all the floorboards in this house. You aren't buried here."

"Not here," read Andrew. "In Arizona."

They all fell silent. Nicky glanced up at Andrew and when he saw no sign of mischief, he swallowed thickly, his Adam's apple bobbing for a moment.

"Where in Arizona, Nathaniel? Tell us where you were buried. We can help you find peace."

The planchette was still for a good five minutes. Just as Nicky sighed, and seemed about to give up for good, it began to move again.

"Millport," said Andrew, his voice barely more than a whisper. "The burned down warehouse at the bottom of the hill."

Nicky's hands visibly shook where they rested against the planchette. "Nathaniel... I'm so sorry."

With that, the planchette moves to goodbye, and Neil is the first to tear his hands away to his chest. Andrew is a moment after, and though he is unwilling to show too much with the rest of them there, he settles one hand on the small of Neil's back in the show of comfort that he needs.

"Fuck," whispered Kevin, and he looked up and around at the rest of them where they all looked shaky and wrecked. "Fuck."

***

**Nicky**  
I know you're probably wondering about that insane jump cut. I know, it's probably fucking confusing. Let me just explain.

Before the cut, you saw our encounter with Nathaniel Wesninski. We stayed the night, but sharing anything after that felt wrong and disrespectful. We tried to talk to him again that night but we didn't make contact with him, or any other spirits. We stayed the night. Kevin, Aaron and I decided to sleep in Nathan and Mary Wesninski's room, where we made contact with Nathaniel. Neil and Andrew stayed in Nathaniel's childhood bedroom.

In the morning, we were supposed to head back to Palmetto to try and put everything together, but none of us could get what Nathaniel had said out of our heads.

So, just a few hours before our flight, we cancelled our tickets and instead flew out to Millport, Arizona. That's where we are now.

Right now, specifically, we're heading to the police station. Kevin made a call while we were in the airport waiting for our new flight, and one police officer in particular, Officer Hernandez, has been interested in this case for his entire life. When he heard what had happened, he said that he would be more than willing to head down to the warehouse with us to see if what we heard last night was true.

If this is the end of the video, it's probably safe to assume that we were right. If not... well, I guess we'll see you soon at a burned down warehouse.

***

Officer Hernandez had the air of a man who was doing his best to look imposing, but couldn't quite manage it. He wore the typical police uniform, but the top button of his shirt was undone and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, showing off the lower parts of what looked to be a tribal tattoo similar to the ones Wymack had.

"You must be Officer Hernandez!" At his approach, Nicky had jumped up and extended his hand out towards him, bouncing on the balls of his feet in barely concealed excitement. "I'm Nicky Hemmick. These are my cousins, Aaron and Andrew. This is Kevin Day, and this is Neil Josten."

"Oh, been a while since I've heard Officer Hernandez," he chuckled, placing his hands on his stomach. It was a warm laugh, and despite where they were, what they were about to do, Neil felt a little more at peace just hearing it. "I used to coach the high school Exy team, so most people just call me Coach."

"Does that extend to us?" Nicky grinned a mischievous grin, the same grin that he pulled any time Neil and Andrew walked into the same room.

Hernandez nodded. "Absolutely! Shall we go?"

"Lead the way!"

Millport wasn't very big, so the walk down to the burned out warehouse that Nathaniel had described took less than twenty minutes.

"You said a ghost told you their body was here?" Hernandez scratched at the back of his neck.

"Yeah." Kevin nodded in confirmation. "And speaking of which, how do you feel about being recorded?"

"You can say no," chimed in Andrew.

Hernandez hesitated for a moment, then shrugged. "Oh no, go ahead. I'm not particularly self conscious.

Aaron pulled out the camera.

***

**Nicky**  
Okay, so here's the burned out warehouse described by Nathaniel as his final resting place.

Now... before we go in, I want to say that the fact that this building actually exists is really encouraging, actually. If it didn't exist, I might've said that one of this lot was fucking around with the Ouija board, but it does exist and it's right here, in front of us, all tall and imposing and... you know, burned out.

Joining us in our new stretch of the journey is the police officer mentioned earlier, Officer Hernandez. He's encouraged us to call him Coach, so you might hear us say that throughout this video, if this does indeed get included. Do you wanna say anything before we go in, Coach? Or any of you?

**Hernandez**  
I just think... even if you don't find anything, it's really nice that you would do this, that you would try your best to bring this one ghost peace. Do you think he'll be able to move on after this?

**Nicky**  
That's what we're hoping for. And the rest of you? Anything to say?

**Kevin**  
We go in as one, and whatever we find, we come out as one.

**Andrew**  
I'm gay.

**Kevin**  
That's not what I meant and you know it.

**Andrew**  
It's an instinct. If somebody says the words "come out", I have to make sure everyone around knows I'm gay.

**Nicky**  
Ooh, that's something I can get behind. I'm gay.

**Kevin**  
Please, no.

**Neil**  
I'm demi.

**Kevin**  
This was meant to be a big dramatic speech.

**Hernandez**  
Oh, I can join in! I'm bisexual!

**Nicky**  
Oh, hell yeah! You little bisexual icon, you!

**Kevin**  
Whatever, let's just go in. Good luck, everyone.

***

Much of the inside of the warehouse was nothing more than a burned out shell, which was entirely unexpected. As they stepped inside, Neil slid his hand into Andrew's and Andrew pressed closer as he felt him shaking in what was either terror, excitement, or anticipation, or more likely a mix of all three. Kevin and Nicky, however, took the lead beside Hernandez.

The floor was largely untouched, except for small patches in the corners, which was surprising given that the floors were made of wood. Hernandez knelt down near the door, prying the bit of wood closest to him up with his hands. It came easily. Underneath, however, was nothing but empty space and, more disgustingly, a swarm of cockroaches.

Aaron gagged. "Gross."

"All apart of the eco-system," said Hernandez brightly. "No bodies under here. Shall we continue?"

Andrew tugged at Neil's hand and he went willingly over to the far corner. They had to let go in order to pull the wood up, but they were never too far apart. Andrew reached for the nearest piece of wood - _nothing_ \- and then onto the next one - _again, nothing_ \- and Neil stood in place, watching with a look of vaguely concealed apprehension on his face.

At some point, Aaron had turned the camera off, all of them unwilling to turn what could be the finally resting place of an abused little boy into some sort of ploy for fame or entertainment.

As the day went on, though, they still found nothing, and they were getting close to the point where they would be encroaching on the others' territories. Andrew leaned back on his knees, reaching up to tug at Neil's hand.

"Are we going to find him?"

Neil didn't respond. His eyes were caught on a particular plank of wood close by. There was nothing especially different about it, except that it appeared to be nailed down. Andrew swept his hand across his head to catch the sweat, and headed over.

"Anyone bring a hammer?"

Kevin glanced up, but it was Hernandez who jumped to his feet and practically skipped over.

"Have you found something?"

Andrew hummed. "Maybe. Can we get this piece of wood up?"

They did. Sure enough, underneath was a set of bones. Nobody really paid too much attention to the measurements, but if they had they might have noticed that the bones exactly matched Neil's measurements, down to the last inch. The hands were no longer attached to the wrists, and the ankles were no longer attached to the legs. The skull, too, was not attached to the neck.

Nicky gagged, and for a moment, Andrew thought he might vomit, but after a moment, he seemed to be fine.

Hernandez opened his mouth for a moment, apparently struggling for words to say. "I'm going to have to call this in," he finally settled on, and stumbled out the door.

Andrew reached out to take Neil's hand. It was cold as ice, as it usually was.

***

**Kathy Ferdinand**  
Good morning, North Carolina, and welcome to what is bound to be an intense show! I don't know how many of you keep up with true crime cases, but just last week, a group of Youtubers solved a sixty year old cold case, using only a Ouija board and their own determination! If you aren't aware, Nathan Wesninski was serial killer dubbed The Butcher of Baltimore for his violent murders from 1935 to 1956 around the city of Baltimore. His wife and son were assumed to have been killed by Wesninski, but their bodies were never found. Until now, that is.

But, before we continue, let me introduce to you the men who made this all happen. So, here's Kevin Day, Nicky Hemmick, Aaron Minyard, Neil Josten, and Andrew Minyard!

Boys, I am so delighted to have you on my show today!

**Kevin**  
It's wonderful to be here. We're all such massive fans.

**Kathy Ferdinand**  
Oh _you_!

Now, let's talk a little bit about how you five managed to solve a case that the police department in Baltimore haven't solved in sixty years. I mean, how did this all start?

**Nicky**  
So we're all part of a larger group of Youtubers, the Foxes. We don't really specialise in anything in particular, but among the larger group there's separate Youtubers and different accounts. Kevin and I are particularly interested in true crime and cold cases, so we wanted to start a channel where we went around to places of significance in true crime. I also have an interest in the supernatural, so I thought we might as well do some ghost hunting as well. We brought the twins and Neil along for the ride, and that was that.

**Kathy Ferdinand**  
So tell me, why the Wesninski house? Is there anything in particular that you all found interesting about it?

**Kevin**  
Well Neil is from Baltimore. He grew up on stories of Nathan Wesninski and the Butcher of Baltimore, and I've always found the history of that case to be incredibly interesting, so it seemed like a good starting point.

**Kathy Ferdinand**  
Now, Andrew, let's talk about what happened in that house. I know you don't believe in ghosts, so were you shocked to make contact with them?

**Andrew**  
Yes.

**Kathy Ferdinand**  
Well... okay.

And Neil, you also said in a roundabout way that you don't believe in ghosts. Was it shocking for you?

**Neil**  
I actually think I said that I would be the first to believe in ghosts.

**Kathy Ferdinand**  
Oh, I see. Well that must be my mistake then.

**Nicky**  
It was really shocking even for somebody who believes in ghosts, anyway. I mean, I've believed in ghosts my whole life but I never thought that a Ouija board would be the thing to prove their existence, you know?

**Kathy Ferdinand**  
Oh, of course. Why don't you walk us through what happened?

**Nicky**  
So we were sat in Nathan Wesninski's old bedroom, because that's supposed to be an epicentre of paranormal activity. We got the Ouija board out, because when you're going ghost hunting, that's kind of a necessary, you know? And when we asked if anyone was there, we got an alleged response from Mary Wesninski. Obviously, we still aren't sure if that was true or if it was one of us messing around, but I personally think we spoke to Mary.

Anyway, so she started talking to Nathaniel, which was weird for us for a moment, so we asked if he was there with us, and the Ouija board confirmed that - yes, Nathaniel Wesninski was in that room with us. And he started talking about how his father murdered him and buried him beneath the floorboards in a burned out warehouse in this small town called Millport in Arizona.

**Kathy Ferdinand**  
And so you went to this town?

**Kevin**  
Exactly! We weren't sure that it would supply any results, but if we could do something to ease that poor boy's suffering, we would do it.

We flew from Baltimore to Millport where we met a police officer, Officer Hernandez. He was such a great help to us, meeting us at the police station and walking us down to the warehouse. He even helped us pry up the floorboards.

**Kathy Ferdinand**  
And that was where you found the body?

**Kevin**  
That was where we found the body.

**Kathy Ferdinand**  
That must have been quite shocking for you, isn't that right, Aaron?

**Aaron**  
Yes. Electrifying. I could hardly breathe for screaming.

**Kathy Ferdinand**  
So I suppose there's only one more thing to ask.

**Kevin**  
And whatever might that be, Kathy?

**Kathy Ferdinand**  
Do you think that you successfully brought that poor boy some peace in the afterlife?

**Neil**  
I think that wherever he is now is far better than the life he had back then, and miles better than the moments before his death when he was being tortured by his father.

***

"You haven't moved on."

Neil looked down at his hands, as though they might provide an explanation. When nothing happened, his shoulders slumped.

"No," he said gruffly. "I suppose not."

Andrew tilted his head to face him. "So what now, Abram? Are you going to go back and haunt the Wesninski house? The warehouse in Millport?"

"I think I'd like to stay here, actually."

Andrew tutted, but held his hand out palm up. Neil slotted his fingers in between his, and met Andrew's gaze, though it wasn't a frustrated gaze or even a blank gaze as he'd expected it to be. Written over every inch of Andrew's face was bewilderment.

"What?"

Andrew looked down at their interlocked hands, brushing his thumb over the soft skin on the back of it.

"You're not cold," he said finally.

Neil frowned. "What?"

"You've been ice cold since I met you," added Andrew. "But your hand is... warm."

"I don't know what that means," admitted Neil.

Andrew hummed quietly, tugging Neil's hand to his mouth and kissing the back of it softly. Neil's eyes fluttered shut.

"It means that you get to stick around for as long as you want, I'm guessing."

Neil thought that might be nice.


	2. The Horrifying Case of the Evermore Massacre (And the Subsequent Disappearance of Riko Moriyama)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, this one was pretty dark. I didn't even intend on that, but somehow, this chapter is both dark as fuck and also introduces some semblance of a plot. All in all, pretty successful, even if it took me like, what, two weeks? I was working really hard on it, okay? Having said that, there is very little editing done, largely because it's so long and I really just wanted to get this out finally.
> 
> Trigger Warning: Explicit references to r*pe, implied/referenced domestic abuse, sexual abuse of a minor, talk of vomit (not in reference to an eating disorder), mild homophobia, and, as in the last one, descriptions of murder and dead bodies.

_I'm just saying, why would somebody do that for no reason..._

_... bodies strewn across the yard..._

_A nationwide manhunt..._

_... allegedly belonged to none other than Riko Moriyama..._

_... the case of the Evermore Massacre._

**Nicky**  
Andrew, I think you should do the intro for this video.

  
 **Andrew**  
The fact that you think you could convince me to do anything for this fucking channel-

  
 **Nicky**  
Neil, I think Andrew should open this video, what do you think?

  
 **Neil**  
I think that would be pretty cool, but if he doesn't want to-

  
 **Andrew**  
Jesus, _fine_ , you don't have to twist my arm. I'll do it.

Hello, you little shits. You've been hounding our comments section, our DMs, even bothering us in person since our last video where we actually solved a fifty year old cold case.

  
 **Kevin**  
I think technically it's more like an eighty year old cold case.

  
 **Andrew**  
What?

  
 **Neil**  
Yeah, hold on. Mary and Nathaniel disappeared in '45, we solved it in 2020. That's more like eighty years.

  
 **Andrew**  
I want a divorce.

  
 **Neil**  
We're not married.

  
 **Andrew**  
As I was saying before I was so _rudely_ interrupted...

Since in our last video, we solved an eighty year old cold case, we thought this time we'd outdo ourselves and solve not just a missing persons case but also a massacre. Because massacres are interesting and incredibly fun.

  
 **Neil**  
To research.

  
 **Andrew**  
What?

  
 **Neil**  
Massacres are interesting and incredibly fun to research.

  
 **Andrew**  
That was implied.

  
 **Kevin**  
Was it?

  
 **Andrew**  
So today we're going to be looking at the horrifying case of the Evermore Massacre, and the subsequent disappearance of Riko Moriyama. To celebrate the massacre-

  
 **Neil**  
Andrew...

  
 **Andrew**  
-we will be travelling to the site of the massacre. Evermore Stadium in Charleston, West Virginia.

  
***

  
"I've been there before," said Neil quietly, as the Maserati hurtled down the freeway.

Andrew glanced over. "Before or after Millport?"

"Before." Neil shifted in his seat, trailing his fingers along his wrist and pressing lightly until he could feel the blood pumping slowly. The blood shouldn't have been pumping; Neil wasn't supposed to be alive. "I played a few rounds of Exy with Tetsuji Moriyama and Kayleigh Day."

"What was she like?"

Neil hummed. "Very much like her granddaughter, really. Nothing at all like Kevin."

“Ah, lovely and well-adjusted then.”

Andrew turned off of the freeway and Neil let out a little chuckle. “She was a fair bit older than me. I mean... I was eight, and she and Tetsuji were, like, in their late twenties? But where Tetsuji was running me into the fucking ground because you only learn by playing... she took the time to slow it down, teach me properly. Tetsuji was a fucking monster, but Kayleigh... Kayleigh deserved the world.”

“Sap.”

Neil smiled across at him. “What do you think about the massacre?”

“Hm.” Andrew looked away from the road to Neil for just a moment, humming thoughtfully, before he turned back. “Do you know what happened?”

“Yes,” said Neil softly, “I do.”

“Are you going to tell me if I’m right?”

“No,” said Neil. “I think it should remain a mystery for your own safety. For now, anyway.”

Andrew nodded. “I think Riko did it, and then I think he was punished for that.” His gaze flicked towards Neil. “Am I right?”

Neil hummed in response. “I guess you’ll never know.”

  
***

  
 **Kevin**  
So, here we are in Charleston, West Virginia. This building that you can see behind us is Evermore Stadium, the location of the case that we’re looking at today. Or, rather, the first part of the case, because there are two levels to it.

The Evermore Massacre is different to the disappearance of Nathaniel and Mary Wesninski for one simple reason: in every sense aside from a conviction, this case is already solved. We’ll get to that later, but for now, let’s start at the beginning.

Evermore Stadium was the first Exy stadium to be built in the USA, after the sport was brought over from Japan by my great-grandmother, Kayleigh Day, and her friend and co-creator, Tetsuji Moriyama. The stadium was built with a set of dormitories below ground for visiting Exy players and those who used the stadium as their home court. This was where Tetsuji’s nephew, Riko Moriyama, grew up after he was estranged by his father and older brother.

Not much is known about Riko’s upbringing. I have a slight advantage, because I have access to my great-grandmother’s journals from around that time. Of course, once we get past 1938, there are a lot of gaps between entries because she was busy raising a son, but we start to understand some elements of life there.

Riko was, more than anything else, spoiled. What Riko wanted, Riko would get.

  
 **Nicky**  
Sounds like somebody else we all know.

  
 **Kevin**  
Hey! I’m not spoiled!

  
 **Nicky**  
I never said your name, Kev.

  
 **Kevin**  
Well... Anyway.

If Riko wanted a new set of racquets, Tetsuji bought them for him. If he wanted one of the players of Evemore’s resident team, the Ravens, to leave, Tetsuji made them leave. When Riko was ten, he even got a visit from none other than last video’s victim, Nathaniel Wesninski, and the two of them played Exy together for a few games along with Tetsuji Moriyama and Kayleigh Day. The point is that Riko Moriyama was a spoiled brat who managed to trick the people around him into thinking he wasn’t a danger to society.

It was a trick that would lead to the deaths of twelve people between the ages of seventeen and twenty nine.

  
***

  
They were met at the gate to the stadium by a security guard in a deep blue uniform, with blonde hair and sun-kissed skin. His sparkling, blue eyes linked with Neil’s matching eyes for a moment, and a intense look passed between them before he looked towards Nicky, stood right in front of him.

“You must be Nicky Hemmick,” he said and held his hand out for Nicky to shake. He did. “My boyfriend and I loved the last video. It was so amazing that you finally got justice for that poor kid.”

“Thanks!” Nicky beamed. “I’m guessing you already know us but this is Kevin Day, and Neil Josten, and the twins, Andrew and Aaron.”

“Hi.” The man’s eyes caught on Neil again for just a moment before he turned again and held Nicky’s gaze. “I’m Jeremy Knox. I’m here for anything you all need tonight, pretty much. Security, cameraman, tour guide – hell, if you really need it, I can even do a grocery run for you. Just consider me your very own personal assistant.”

“Thanks,” repeated Nicky. “Do you know much about the stadium and its history?”

A slow, contemplative look passed over Jeremy’s face for a moment. “I know a lot about the stadium. Could even say I’ve devoted my life to it.”

“That’s dedication,” said Kevin brightly, apparently sensing a kindred spirit in Jeremy. “Are you interested in history?”

“I’m not actually interested in history so much as I’m interested in the stadium,” admitted Jeremy, “and the massacre. Actually, walking around the stadium feels kind of weird sometimes. Like... just the knowledge that I’m walking over a place where people died. Sort of... spooky.”

“Well let’s get started on the spooky!” Nicky’s eyes lit up. “Are you happy to be on camera?”

Jeremy hesitated. “I am, but my boyfriend’s inside waiting and he probably won’t be as comfortable.”

“Oh, of course,” nodded Nicky, taking the camera out and passing it to Aaron to set up. “How long have you two been together?”

“Oh... it feels like forever to me. Probably not quite like that for him though.” Jeremy smirked a little, as though making an inside joke. Neil smirked too, because he thought he might understand it. “Shall we?”

Jeremy reached back for the gate and held it open, but Nicky gestured with a flourish. “After you, Jeremy!”

  
***

  
 **Nicky**  
Here we are, finally inside the stadium! You may have noticed our new addition. This is Jeremy Knox, he’s going to be showing us around and helping us out tonight, so you should probably get used to his adorable face.

  
 **Jeremy**  
Oh, _stop_ , you’ll make me blush!

  
 **Nicky**  
Now that we’re inside, should we start talking about the massacre? Kevin?

  
 **Kevin**  
Yes, of course! This is such an interesting case actually.

So it all started back in August 1952. With the start of the new academic year came fresh meat to the Exy team that Riko Moriyama captained, the Ravens. One new recruit in particular was known to the public only as M at first, for reasons unclear. This new recruit, for some reason, seemed to grate on Riko’s nerves. In one of Kayleigh Day’s journal entries from that month, she describes how M had a natural proficiency for Exy as a backliner, and that it frustrated Riko when he couldn’t get a shot past her. She also talks about how M liked to tease Riko and poke fun whenever she blocked him.

  
 **Nicky**  
I’ll be honest with you, Kev, it sounds like there’s a lot of sexual tension there.

  
 **Kevin**  
Oh, you have no idea.

  
 **Nicky**  
Ooh!

  
 **Kevin**  
In October, there was a Halloween event. Kayleigh’s journal entry for that evening describes how both Riko and M went missing for several hours. When she finally went to look for them, leaving my grandfather, Henry, in the company of Tetsuji Moriyama as she did so, she found them wrapped up in each other in a maintenance closet.

Kayleigh was tasked with bringing them back to Tetsuji and informing him of the situation. Tetsuji took his nephew away for the rest of the night and Kayleigh didn’t see either of them for a few days after that.

Then, around the start of December, there was an official announcement in the paper about Riko’s engagement to Thea Muldani, the woman known only as M up to this point. Kayleigh has also included a conversation she overheard that discusses rumours that Thea was pregnant and the engagement was to hide the pre-marital sex that they’d been partaking in.

  
 **Andrew**  
Scandalous.

  
 **Neil**  
You could say it with a _little_ more enthusiasm, Drew.

  
 **Andrew**  
Scandalous. I am shocked. This behaviour is despicable.

  
 **Kevin**  
My life has been so much harder since the two of you found each other.

Then at the start of January, on the 10th, police were called due to a disturbance outside the stadium. When they arrived, they found Thea Muldani curled up on the floor covered in bruises. When she was questioned about it, she claimed a rough practise but this conflicts with journal entries in Kayleigh’s journal which state that as soon as they realised she was pregnant, she was pulled from practises. With no crime to investigate, Thea was released from the hospital into the care of her fiancé. This would be the last time anyone outside of the stadium would see her alive.

  
***

  
Jeremy led them down long, twisting corridors and several sets of stairs before he stopped outside a particular door.

“Through here,” he said quietly, “is several things. This is the room that Riko Moriyama and later Thea Muldani occupied, and also contains my boyfriend, who is equally as exciting in my opinion.”

Aaron seemed to take the hint and turned the camera to the floor, pausing the recording. Jeremy, apparently satisfied, opened the door and led them inside. Nicky was the first through the door, followed closely by Kevin and then Aaron. Neil, as he went to step inside, was held back for a moment when Andrew tugged at his bicep gently.

“Everything good?”

“What do you know?”

Neil raised one eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“You and the bleach-blonde twink,” said Andrew, eyes narrow with suspicion. “I saw the looks. Either you’re really into each other – which, given that you’re both in relationships and that you're _you_ is unlikely – or the two of you know something.”

With a glance between Andrew and the door, Neil sighed, “it’s not really me and Jeremy. It’s his boyfriend. The two of us... go way back.”

“How far back?”

“Very far.”

Andrew nodded once satisfied. He reached out with one hand to clasp at the back of Neil’s neck and almost smiled as Neil sank into the touch instantly. Beneath his hands, he could feel the warmth of Neil’s skin and the slow pulse of his blood. For somebody who wasn’t even alive, he really felt alive.

“Is it too much? Being here?”

Neil shook his head. “I’m a big boy. I can handle a few ghosts.”

“Are there any ghosts here?”

He glanced around, his eyes catching on particular spots where they shouldn’t, before he looked back at Andrew and nodded. “Oh yeah. So many.”

Andrew took that at face value. He tugged Neil towards him for a quick kiss to the temple and then stepped in through the door, letting Neil in behind him.

Jeremy had retreated to the wall opposite, next to where a tall boy with pale hair and piercing green eyes was leaning against it. He wore all black with a red earring in one ear. Their hands were entangled, which meant that this was Jeremy’s boyfriend.

“Hey,” said Jeremy with a gleam in his eye, “you missed the introductions!”

His boyfriend looked at Neil for a moment, a knowing look taking over his features. “I am Jean Moreau. You must be... Stefan? Alex? Chris?”

Neil seemed amused, which did wonders to relax the tension slowly building in Andrew’s shoulders.

“It’s Neil, actually,” he said. “Neil Josten.”

“For now.”

Neil grinned, then reached forward to tangle his fingers with Andrew’s. “This is Andrew.”

“Hello, Andrew.” Jean’s gaze only flicked over Andrew for a moment before he was turning to watch Jeremy who, in turn, was already watching Jean. “ _Oh_. Hello.”

“Alright!” Nicky clapped his hands. “Now that we’re all introduced, shall we get started on the ghost hunting?”

“You’re ghost hunters?” Jean locked eyes with Neil, smirking a little. “How fitting.”

“Do you two know each other?” Kevin looked between Jean and Neil.

Neil smiled innocently. “Do you think we’d keep something like that from you, Kevin?”

Kevin seemed, for a moment, speechless, before he turned away with a huff. “Whatever. Let’s do the fucking ghost hunting I guess.”

  
***

  
 **Nicky**  
I know you said you enjoyed our last video, Jeremy, but we haven’t asked, **[REDACTED]** , have you watched it? Do you know the sort of thing we do?

  
 **[REDACTED]**  
Jeremy mentioned a, er... what do you call it? The game... board, with words. The...

  
 **Neil**  
Ouija board.

  
 **[REDACTED]**  
Yes! That’s the one! Well, he mentioned that.

  
 **Nicky**  
Well now you get to experience it! Kevin, before we continue, wanna get to the actual massacre?

  
 **Kevin**  
Yes! I would love that!

  
 **Aaron**  
What’s up his ass?

  
 **Andrew**  
I think it’s less what’s already up his ass and more what he wants up his ass.

  
 **Kevin**  
What?

  
 **Neil**  
What?

  
 **Andrew**  
What?

  
 **Kevin**  
Anyway...

On the 27th January 1953, the Ravens were supposedly out at a match. We know that they arrived at the match, but we also know that for reasons that have actually revealed to the public, they were missing their Captain, Riko Moriyama, his fiancé, Thea Muldani, and eleven other players.

  
 **Nicky**  
But Kevin, you said that this case resulted in twelve deaths!

  
 **Kevin**  
Yes, I did.

At around two pm, just an hour after the Ravens set off for their match, nearby residents heard screaming coming from the stadium. The screams continued for up to twenty minutes, and so of course they called the police. Upon arrival, the police were expecting a situation like before with Thea Muldani, but instead they found twelve bodies, one of which belonged to Muldani herself. There should have been thirteen people in the stadium, and there were twelve bodies. The only person who wasn’t there was Riko.

  
 **Nicky**  
Gasp!

  
 **Aaron**  
Did you just say the word gasp?

  
 **Nicky**  
Yes, Aaron, I did, and I will not be shamed for my dramatic nature.

Carry on, Kevin, I wanna hear some more stuff. Let’s go into more detail about the victims.

  
 **Kevin**  
Yeah, okay, so obviously the most horrifying victim was Riko’s fiancé, Thea Muldani, because she and Riko were engaged and it was practically public knowledge that she was pregnant with his child. Here’s the thing though – a brief autopsy was carried out after the bodies were found and it was discovered that Thea Muldani actually was not pregnant.

  
 **[REDACTED]**  
Wait, Thea wasn’t pregnant?

  
 **Kevin**  
No. In fact, it didn’t even look as though she’d ever been sexually active. Of course, there’s no way to tell for certain but the doctors carrying out the autopsy were quite certain that at the time of her death, she was not, nor had she ever been, pregnant with Riko Moriyama’s child.

The other victims were Ravens players who were not scheduled in the match that day. The most notable was probably a seventeen year old boy who, due to his age, was known to the public only as _Petit Oiseau_ , who was from Marseille, France, and had been living as Tetsuji Moriyama’s ward for two years at the time, for reasons unknown to the public.

  
 **Neil**  
Seventeen?

  
 **Kevin**  
I know. That was heartbreaking for me to read too. He was just a child.

  
 **Jeremy**  
He deserved better, that’s for damn sure.

  
 **Kevin**  
Anyway, there were so many victims with such intricate backstories that we don’t have time to get into now because there’s still a whole other element to this story. Having said that, let’s move on to the Ouija board.

  
 **Nicky**  
Yay! God, I’m super excited for this one! I know that last time might have been a fluke... but I really want to get in contact with ghosts again!

  
 **[REDACTED]**  
Oh, you got in contact with ghosts? How exciting.

  
 **Nicky**  
Exactly! You get me! Now, let’s talk about some of the hauntings that are said to have happened in this room.

The first is, obviously Thea Muldani, who lived here for the two months leading up to her death. People have claimed to hear her crying, and calling for her baby. There have also been moans-

  
 **Andrew**  
Again, can we clarify? Moans like sexy moans or moans like moans of despair?

  
 **Nicky**  
Once again, probably moans of despair, Andrew.

  
 **Andrew**  
I just want to make sure we’re telling the whole story.

  
**Nicky**   
_Anyway..._

Crying, moaning, calling for her baby. We’re keen to ignore the calling for her baby given the fact that Thea Muldani was not, in fact, pregnant. However, now that we’re here, let’s try and see if we can get into contact with Thea Muldani.

  
 **[REDACTED]**  
So this is the Ouija board, yes?

  
 **Kevin**  
Unfortunately.

  
 **[REDACTED]**  
You don’t believe in it? But you were the one who suggested it? And I was under the impression that you spoke to Nathaniel last time.

  
 **Kevin**  
Well there’s no denying that, I suppose, but other than that, there’s no evidence that Ouija boards even work. It could just as easily have been a fluke. Or a fever dream.

  
 **Aaron**  
A shared fever dream?

  
 **Neil**  
Andrew once called me a pipe dream.

  
 **Andrew**  
Andrew’s also about to call you a fucking snitch.

  
 **Neil**  
Well then Andrew should hurry up and get to it, rather than wasting my time.

  
 **Jeremy**  
Are they okay?

  
 **Kevin**  
Yeah, this is just their foreplay. Let’s talk to a fucking ghost.

  
 **Nicky**  
Ooh, Kevin, you know it makes me all tingly when you take charge like that. But you’re right. Let’s talk to a fucking ghost.

Okay, so cuties, the first step is to put your fingers on the planchette... Ooh, you have really pretty fingers, **[REDACTED]**.

  
 **[REDACTED]**  
That makes me uncomfortable. Please stop.

  
 **Nicky**  
Sorry, kid. Let me know if I cross anymore lines.

Now then... If there are any spirits here with us, please move the planchette to the _Yes_.

  
 **Jeremy**  
Is something supposed to happen?

  
 **Neil**  
Maybe the ghosts are sick of being your performing monkeys.

  
 **[REDACTED]**  
That certainly is a possibility.

  
 **Andrew**  
I can’t believe that we now have to deal with two of you.

  
 **Nicky**  
What’s that supposed to mean?

  
 **Aaron**  
Shut up all of you and look!

  
 **Kevin**  
Wait, I didn’t see what that said. Andrew?

  
 **Andrew**  
Who is asking?

  
 **Neil**  
Kev. Kevin Day.

  
 **Kevin**  
What the fuck, Neil?

  
 **Neil**  
If this is Thea Muldani, she would’ve spent a lot of time with Kayleigh I. If it’s another of the victims, it’s the same situation.

  
 **Andrew**  
I can see you.

  
 **Nicky**  
Who are we speaking to?

  
 **Andrew**  
My name is Theodora Muldani. What do you want with me?

  
 **Nicky**  
Is it just you or is there anyone else with you?

  
 **Andrew**  
 _Petit Oiseau_.

  
 **Neil**  
What? The little bird is here?

  
 **[REDACTED]**  
How curious.

  
 **Andrew**  
He’s such a funny little bird. I have missed him.

  
 **Kevin**  
Thea – is it okay if I call you that?

  
 **Andrew**  
It’s my name.

  
 **Kevin**  
Wonderful. Thea – were you pregnant with Riko’s baby?

  
 **Andrew**  
No. Riko was found in bed with another boy over the summer. When I started at Evermore, Tetsuji blackmailed me into pretending we were in a relationship so that nobody found out about his orientation. I agreed rather than lose my contract. The pregnancy was Riko’s idea. I have no idea how he planned to acquire a baby to properly fake it, but I did not want to ask.

  
 **Nicky**  
The scandal! Was it another Raven?

  
 **Neil**  
Nicky, I don’t think-

  
 **Andrew**  
That’s enough, Thea.

  
 **Kevin**  
 _Petit Oiseau_?

  
 **Andrew**  
You should all learn not to pry into business that does not involve you. Nathaniel was too polite to say it but I will. To bring up the past again is to bring up trauma that I do not want to relive. It was me in bed with Riko when Tetsuji walked in, but it was rape. I did not want anything that was done to me.

  
 **Nicky**  
Oh, God, Andrew-

  
 **Andrew**  
I was seventeen. Bringing up the past will not change it. Please leave me alone.

  
***

  
Nicky was the first out the door. He was chattering away to Jeremy and Kevin, but Neil thought it might be his best attempt to avoid the subject. Aaron followed after them, since Jean didn’t want to be recorded anyway, which left just him and Jean and Andrew in the room that had once been Thea Muldani’s.

“I was seven,” said Andrew after a moment, and Jean looked up at him with furrowed eyebrows. “The first time anyway. Seven. Eight. Ten. Twelve.”

“He deserved worse than he got.”

Neil nodded slowly. “Jeremy’s got you?”

“Yeah,” said Jean softly. “He’s got me. For now.”

“Jean...” Neil searched for the right words for a moment before giving up and holding his hand out palm upwards to Jean. “Feel.”

Jean eyed him suspiciously but did as he was told. Andrew could see the moment the realisation hit him and he clutched Neil’s hand like a lifeline, pressing fingers into his wrist and feeling the slow pulse of blood.

“How?”

“I don’t know,” admitted Neil. “But it started after they found my bones.”

“They’ve always known where mine are,” said Jean softly. “I’m buried in a graveyard a few miles from here.”

Neil squeezed his hand gently. “What if we find Riko’s bones?”

“Do you think that would do it?”

“It can’t hurt,” said Neil. “Hey, we could even desecrate his grave.”

Jean chuckled weakly, squeezing Neil’s hand back. “Thank you, troublesome pest.”

“Don’t mention it, pet.”

  
***

  
 **Nicky**  
Okay, Kev, next part of the story. Let’s talk about Riko.

  
 **Kevin**  
Yeah, okay. So they have twelve bodies and a missing captain. They look over the bodies and it becomes clear pretty quickly that Riko was the one to kill them all. They weren’t quite able to establish an order but they think that Thea was the first, and that _Petit Oiseau_ was the last. To be fair, they kind of mishandled the evidence badly and completely fucked up the investigation, but one thing that was clear was that Riko was the perpetrator, and from that they assumed that he had killed them all in a fit of anger – with a carving knife, no less – and then ran.

There were a few alleged sightings afterwards. In February, a young couple reported a young man of Asian descent, with a number 1 tattoo on his cheek – get this, in Baltimore.

  
 **Aaron**  
Baltimore? Like... the Wesninskis?

  
 **Kevin**  
Exactly.

Then there were three more sightings between March and May, one in New York, one back home in Columbia, and one again in New York towards the end of May boarding a ship. From there, it became an international missing persons case, with everyone from Japan to Mexico searching for Riko Moriyama.

The trail ran dry in November, and by 1960, seven years after the massacre, he was officially declared dead.

And that’s kind of where the case ends. I mean, nobody’s seen even a trace of him since November 1953, and there’s not much to do with that. Basically, the case was solved straight away, but without a conviction, there’ll be no closure for the victims or the victims’ families.

  
 **Andrew**  
Bullshit.

  
 **Neil**  
Drew-

  
 **Andrew**  
No, look, we solved one of these cases. What’s one more?

  
 **Neil**  
Drew-

  
 **Andrew**  
Neil.

  
 **Nicky**  
A-hem. Can you two have your lovers tiff _off_ camera?

  
***

  
Somehow, Evermore Stadium didn’t look quite so big in the rearview mirror. After having driven up together, Neil and Andrew were in charge of getting the others to the airport before heading back themselves. That was why Neil was confused when Andrew instead started heading back in the direction of the stadium. More confusing still was when they were greeted outside the gate by both Jeremy and Jean.

Neil climbed out of the passenger seat. “We’re going to find Riko, aren’t we?”

“He catches on quick.” Andrew climbed out too, resting his arm on the top of the car. “Look, the two of you know where he’s buried, I know you do. I don’t know why you’re being so weird about this, because it’s the best chance you have at joining Neil in your second life, Frenchie.”

“Jean needed to forget about Riko,” said Neil quietly.

Andrew glanced over at him for a moment, then turned his gaze to Jean and Jeremy where they stood side by side with interlocked hands. He let out a slow breath.

“Ignoring what happened won’t help,” he said through gritted teeth. “What helps is reclaiming the action. What happened was rape. This is sex.”

“Spoken from experience?”

“Shit people have existed all throughout history.” Andrew rapped his knuckles against the top of the Maserati. “Are we going to find this piece of shit or what?”

It was practically silent in the car all the way from Charleston to Baltimore. Andrew hadn’t really made an active decision to go there, but it was the first place Riko had been seen after the massacre so it seemed an obvious starting point.

Then as they were getting to the outskirts, Jean leaned forward from the backseat.

“Take the next left,” he said, his voice hoarse.

Andrew wasn’t usually the type to take orders from a stranger, but knowing that Neil had known Jean for decades helped in his decision to take the next left. It led onto a dirt road down to an old burned-out cabin.

He sighed. “I’m beginning to sense a theme here.”

“It was Nathan,” said Neil quietly, and Andrew tilted his head in his direction. “Riko and Nathan had spoken before because Riko’s family were in business with Nathan which was why he ran here after the massacre. But Nathan knew what he’d done and he thought Riko would get him caught. So he took him down here, and stabbed him fifty times.”

“No finesse,” said Jean quietly, “but it was effective at killing him.” He hesitated for a moment, locking eyes with Neil in the rearview mirror. “That was where the two of us met for the first time.”

“I was following Nathan around,” said Neil. “I wanted to haunt him, to make him suffer for what he did to me and my mother. And Jean was following Riko around because...”

“Stockholm Syndrome,” Jean mumbled. “I have grown since then.”

Andrew pulled up outside the cabin. “Buried?”

“You’ll see,” said Jean, stepping out of the car followed closely by Neil and Jeremy.

Andrew wanted to sigh at the dramatic nature of ghosts, but he felt that the dramatics were limited to Jean and Neil more than they were symptoms of being a ghost. With that in mind, he too got out of the car and followed the trio of ghosts/one ghost fucker into the burned-out cabin.

The smell hit him almost instantly. What he noticed next was the coffins hanging from the rafters. A few were nailed shut, a few were just closed, and two of them were open, the lids swinging in the breeze. Jeremy, apparently had not been warned about the cabin, as he was hunched over in the corner, vomiting violently while Jean rubbed circles into his back. Andrew stepped up beside Neil.

“Why don’t people know about this?”

Neil grimaced. “These were his prizes. Business rivals... ex-lovers...” He stepped forward and stopped beneath one particular coffin, closing his eyes. “My mother.”

“Mary’s body is in one of those?”

“This one,” confirmed Neil, gesturing up at the coffin above him. “Nailed shut, chained and locked. He was considering encasing it in concrete but he thought it might be difficult to hang up. Riko...” He continued on through the room, and stopped at another that was nailed shut. “Riko is in this one.”

“And how the fuck are we supposed to get it down?” Andrew wrinkled his nose.

Neil smiled gently, making his way over to him. “May I have a knife?”

Andrew had no reason to deny him that, so he handed it over, and Neil hardly hesitated before he turned and threw it at the rope that was holding the coffin up. It flew down towards the ground and smashed open. Andrew almost gagged at the smell; at the sight, he actually did.

Riko’s body appeared to have been encased in resin, as he had not decayed at all in the seventy-some years since his death. He had a shocked expression on his face, and blood seemed to have been gushing from fifty stab wounds at the point he was preserved.

“Drew,” mumbled Neil, close to Andrew but not touching, “are you okay? Do you need a moment?”

Andrew grimaced, but years of sucking dick had left him with a wonderful gag reflex, so he managed to hold off on vomiting as Jeremy was doing. Instead, he reached out and took Neil’s hand.

“Frenchie needs to call the cops,” he said finally.

Jean looked over at that, a deer in the headlights look taking over his features. “What?”

“The rest of us are in the video,” explained Andrew, “except for you. And your voice will be altered so nobody will know who you are.”

“Why is that important?” Jean reached out to Jeremy and tangled his fingers in his hair, tugging gently in what seemed to be a comforting movement.

Andrew sighed. “Last time, we had this fuck telling us where to find his remains,” he said, squeezing Neil’s hand gently. “This time, nobody told us, so there’s no logical reason for us to happen across these bodies. If it’s you, you can just say you stumbled across them.”

“Are you sure that will work?”

Andrew shrugged. “Who knows? It’s better than anything else I’ve got.”

“I suppose there is something to be said for that,” said Jean, and then broke off into mumbled French that made Neil smirk and Jeremy blush. “Fine. The three of you should get out of here, head towards the Wesninski house. I will meet you there.”

  
***

  
 **Aaron**  
I really think we should wait for Andrew and Josten to get here before we do this.

  
 **Nicky**  
Your opinion has been noted and ignored. Kevin, tell them what happened after we left Evermore.

  
 **Kevin**  
So we took the plane home, whilst Neil and Andrew were going to be driving back in the Maserati. Andrew doesn’t like flying and it made sense to have a car while we were there anyway. Which meant that we’ve arrived home a full three days before they’re due back, although they might be taking the scenic route.

  
 **Nicky**  
I hope so. They deserve a romantic road trip.

  
 **Kevin**  
Anyway, so the day after we left, police in Baltimore announced that they’d found fourteen more bodies in a burned out cabin there, one of which belonged to Riko Moriyama. Apparently the bodies were discovered by an anonymous teenager who was in the cabin on a dare.

  
 **Nicky**  
It’s so fucking weird, right?

  
 **Aaron**  
Coincidence.

  
 **Nicky**  
Bullshit! The timing is too close to be a coincidence. I think we have to call this a case of divine intervention.

  
 **Kevin**  
Uh... sure, Nicky.

Anyway, apparently another of the bodies that they found there was Mary Wesninski, and it will soon be taking to Arizona to be buried alongside her son in the cemetery in Millport. But the interesting thing is that – well, all the bodies are in various stages of decay, except for Riko Moriyama’s, which was encased in resin.

  
 **Aaron**  
God, that’s so fucked up. I bet Andrew would love it.

  
 **Nicky**  
I really hope they haven’t heard about it by the time they get here – wouldn’t it be cool to be the ones to tell them?

  
 **Aaron**  
Sure, Nicky, cool. If that’s how you wanna see it. I think the universe just kinda wants to punish those that deserve it. Such as Nathan Wesninski. And Riko Moriyama. Side note, why do all these fucked up people have foreign sounding names? Sounds like some racist bullshit from the universe to me.

  
 **Nicky**  
Aaron, you are my cousin and I love you, so I hope you will take it the right way when I cordially invite you to go suck a dick.

  
 **Aaron**  
Okay, but whose dick? I’m not coming anywhere nears yours or Andrew’s – because I’m not into incest – and I’m not going anywhere near Josten’s either – I’d bet he’s got a really disgusting penis.

  
 **Kevin**  
Are you saying you’d suck _my_ dick?

  
 **Aaron**  
I’m saying we’re getting away from the topic of this video, which is supposed to be about the bodies found in Baltimore.

  
 **Nicky**  
Oh, we haven’t even mentioned the coolest part! These bodies? They were in coffins, suspended from the roof of the cabin! It’s so fucked up!

  
 **Kevin**  
Nicky, maybe remember that people are dead here, hm?

  
 **Nicky**  
Oh, obviously. Yeah, it sucks that this shit happened to them. However... it’s pretty cool, you have to admit. Nathan Wesninski may have been a fucked up piece of shit, but he was a stylish fucked up piece of shit.

  
 **Aaron**  
Was it definitely Nathan Wesninski?

  
 **Kevin**  
Well, given that both Mary Wesninski’s body and Riko Moriyama’s body were found in the cabin, I think it’s safe to say that it was the work of Nathan Wesninski.

  
 **Aaron**  
Were the Wesninskis and the Moriyamas friends or some shit then?

  
 **Kevin**  
Business partners.

  
 **Aaron**  
Makes sense. Sociopaths attract sociopaths – I mean, just look at Andrew and Neil!

  
 **Nicky**  
Anyway, this was just a short clip to update you on the situation if you haven’t heard, and to formally express our deepest sympathies to the families of the victims finally getting closure after so long.

  
***

  
Andrew didn’t really like Jeremy Knox. He was too much sunshine and rainbows, too much optimism and positivity for such a small person – and that was coming from Andrew. But, he had to admit, there were worse places to be than stood beside him, watching their boyfriends interact. For example, he could be part of the conversation, interacting with Frenchie.

Neil had two fingers placed to Jean’s wrist and Jean’s eyes were filled with hope, which Andrew had figured was a rare emotion for him to feel. After a moment, Neil looked up at them and grinned, nodding enthusiastically. He was still not as enthusiastic as Jeremy, who ran over and threw his arms around Jean, laying kiss after kiss against his forehead, his temple, his cheek, his neck – anywhere he could reach. Neil, apparently having served his purpose, sauntered back towards Andrew.

“Just another day in the life,” he sighed dramatically, and gestured towards Andrew’s shoulder. When he nodded, Neil laid his head against it, closing his eyes for a moment. “I’m tired. Haven’t felt that since I was alive.”

“You’re alive now.”

“You know what I mean.” Neil’s eyes followed his fingertips as they trailed down Andrew’s arm and entangled in between his. “Everyday I become more and more alive.”

“What’s the deal with that?”

“I have no idea,” admitted Neil. “We should definitely look into it, though.”

“Oh, wonderful,” sighed Andrew, “research.”

“I was actually going to suggest something else,” smirked Neil. “Experimentation.”

“That sounds ominous as fuck, Josten,” grumbled Andrew. “Say what you mean, or don’t say anything.”

Neil huffed. “Ever heard of dramatic suspense? Whatever. I know a few other ghosts from my time travelling in my pre-Andrew days. Why don’t we go around to them, see what unfinished business they’ve got and solve it for them?”

“Sounds wonderful,” scoffed Andrew, “why don’t we trade the Maserati in for a Chevy Impala, and Kevin for a gay angel while we’re at it?”

Neil wrinkled his nose. “What?”

“Never mind,” said Andrew. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Yes,” said Neil, and Andrew was almost impressed by the lack of hesitation in his voice. “Look at them.” Andrew did, but it wasn’t because he would do anything Neil asked. No, sir, he just felt the need to look at them just as Neil pointed them out. Jean and Jeremy seemed to be wrapped up in each other, oblivious to the world around them. Jean even seemed to have tears pouring down his cheeks. Andrew squeezed at Neil’s hand again, sinking into the warmth they gave him.

“You want to make people happy.”

Neil smiled a crooked smile. “Well yeah, don’t you? Don’t you like how good it feels? Seeing them so happy and excited and alive?”

Andrew scoffed. “Junkie.”

“Andrew,” he said, and his voice was barely even a whisper. “Yes or no?”

Andrew squeezed his hand again. “Yes, idiot. I’ll follow you anywhere, you know that.”

“Yes,” said Neil, “I do. Thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” sighed Andrew, tugging his keys out of his pocket and swinging them around on his finger. “I’m amazing, I know. You don’t need to tell me. You do need to get into the car, however.”

“Hm, sweet-talking me, are you, Minyard?”

Andrew leaned towards him, letting his lips brush against the outer shell of Neil’s ear. “You’ll just have to get into the car and find out.”

Neil blushed. Andrew thought it was one of the prettiest things he’d ever seen, but he pushed that thought down as much as possible. They had more pressing matters at hand.

Like the fact that they had just unthinkingly become ghost road-tripper vigilantes. He didn’t see any way that this could possibly backfire on them.


	3. The Suspicious Disappearance of Natalie Shields

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuck me, okay. Yes, it's been two months. Between assignments and a general lack of motivation (also writer's block at so many points), I haven't finished it until literally today. My bad. Truly, people who update their fics on a regular basis are inhuman and I have so much respect for y'all.
> 
> In that time, though, I have been doing some planning. I have ideas for four more chapters at least in this AU, plus some separate one shots in the same universe, if that's something y'all want? Let me know, I guess. I love hearing from people even if I'm shit at responding. You also might have noticed (but probably not) that I've gone through and made some slight changes, because a lot of the things I've included before now don't work with what I have planned.
> 
> As always, this is unedited and unbetaed (do I really need to say both of those? I'm gonna anyway)
> 
> Anyway, I know I say this every chapter but this one is a lot darker than the others. Maybe not a lot, but definitely darker. None of the trigger warnings detailed below are in detail, but they are included so keep that in mind before reading.
> 
> TW*: Gang violence, gun violence, child abuse, implied child sexual assault, indecent images of children
> 
> *let me know if there's any that I missed.

_... young girl gone missing..._

_Police are searching for..._

_...young Natalie Shields was last seen..._

_... rumours of gang violence..._

**Aaron**  
Once... Just once... Can we _please_ have a nice case?

**Kevin**  
What’s wrong with this one?

**Aaron**  
Well for starters, the victim went missing when she was ten years old, was likely trafficked by one of the many gangs in North Dakota, not to mention the abuse she likely suffered up to that point-

**Nicky**  
Aaron! You’re spoiling the video!

**Aaron**  
Well somebody has to do it, and Neil and Andrew have fucked off somewhere.

**Nicky**  
A romantic getaway, just like I said.

**Kevin**  
Okay, but you’ve _met_ Neil and Andrew, right? I can’t imagine a less romantic couple.

**Nicky**  
Stop killing my buzz and let’s get on with the story.

**Kevin**  
Yes, sir.

***

“You’re _sure_ this is the right place?”

Andrew looked up at the house – a mansion really – that towered above him. That wasn’t really saying much, of course, because most things towered above him, but this house especially was massive.

Neil shrugged, heading up the steps to the front door. “Yeah, just...”

“Just what?”

“Well, just be prepared for anything,” he said slowly. “Not anything. But... Well my contact is a little... Oh, you’ll see.”

Andrew watched Neil fade a little into translucency as he shuffled through the door. Things like that had been disconcerting when Neil started to do them after he told Andrew the truth, but now he’d started looking at it from a scientific point of view. He wondered if Neil would stop being able to do that the more alive he became.

The door swung open with a click and Andrew took a step over the threshold. “Show off.”

Neil grinned brightly, then reached over to tangle his fingers with Andrew’s. Shutting the door behind them, he began to pull Andrew towards a grand staircase made of marble.

“Your contact’s pretty rich, huh?”

“My contact is dead,” said Neil. “Or... at least a little bit dead, anyway. Jean and I met her a few decades ago. Maybe the seventies or eighties?”

“Well she’s living the high life.”

Neil flashed him another grin and then stopped outside a door. Inside, Andrew could hear the shuffling of sheets and intermittent moans. They were all cut off when Neil lifted one hand and pounded on the door hard.

“I’m coming in in three seconds, whether you’re decent or not,” he said loudly and there was a giggle from the other side.

“You sure you can handle the sight?” A voice called back, female with a California drawl to it. “Don’t overwhelm yourself, baby boy!”

Neil laughed and pushed the door open. Inside was a bedroom, with a massive king-sized bed in the centre and curtains draped over tall posts in the corners. The covers were rumpled, likely due to the three naked people in the middle.

“Classy as ever, Renee.” Neil smiled a vicious smile.

The girl in the middle, with white dyed hair and pastel tips, grinned mischievously. “You’re welcome to join us, sweetheart. Or your boy.”

“This is your contact?” Andrew looked her up and down. She seemed to be of Asian descent, with pale skin and mono-lidded eyes. She also had a dark look in her eyes, which made Andrew both more and less wary of her. “I’m not impressed.”

“Andrew,” said Neil, his voice tinged with amusement, “this is Renee Walker, formerly known as Natalie Shields, and her partners, Allison Reynolds and Seth Gordon.”

“Business partners,” cut in Seth, though it was undercut by the way he leaned back, naked in silken sheets, with one hand still...

Andrew looked away.

“Don’t they say that you shouldn’t mix business with pleasure?” Neil raised an eyebrow and Seth chuckled lowly, pulling his hand to his chest. Neil turned away, looking back at Renee. “Did Jean call you?”

“No,” said Renee, frowning and looking serious for the first time since they’d entered the room. “Is everything okay?”

“Maybe,” said Neil softly. “Maybe not. We should talk anyway.”

Renee nodded. “Give us a minute to finish up?”

***

**Kevin**  
This case started in North Dakota in the sixties. Natalie Shields was born in Jamestown, North Dakota on 27th September 1962, to a neglectful mother and an unknown father. Her mother, Charlotte Shields, was a known drug addict, and would often send Natalie to steal things from people that she could sell to buy drugs. When Natalie was seven, her mother got into a relationship with a man called Roger Cartwright, who had two previous convictions, one for drug possession and another for assault. Those who taught Natalie at the time noted that she would often come into school with bruises, but they were dismissed as she claimed that she took a martial arts class.

**Nicky**  
 _Did_ she take a martial arts class?

**Kevin**  
That was never proven either way. It seems unlikely though. I’d assume her mother and her mother’s boyfriend would rather spend their money on drugs.

**Aaron**  
Oof, big mood.

**Nicky**  
Aaron, what have we told you about joking about your childhood trauma?

**Aaron**  
I mean, you say so many things, Nicky. I just block you out at this point.

**Kevin**  
Same.

**Nicky**  
Hey! Stop bullying the gay one! This is homophobia!

**Kevin**  
Right... homophobia.

**Aaron**  
You’re right, Kevin and I are incredibly homophobic.

**Kevin**  
So homophobic. You should cancel us right now.

**Nicky**  
I feel like the two of you are making fun of me somehow, but I can’t figure out why.

**Kevin**  
Shall we continue with the case?

**Nicky**  
Hm. Sure.

***

“So you’re dead?” Andrew tilted his head at Renee. She was dressed now, but just barely, in a skimpy robe coloured hot pink. Neil had commented that he thought it was probably Allison’s. That made a lot of sense.

Renee smiled, a teasing look in her eyes. “Actually, I think you’ll find we prefer living challenged.”

Neil leaned forward, presenting his wrist to her. “Not all of us.”

She eyed him for a moment then reached forward and pressed two fingers to his pulse. Her eyebrows shot up. “Interesting. That’s not supposed to happen.” She looked back at up Neil and tilted her head. “I heard Nathaniel’s body was found.”

“Yes.”

Renee hummed quietly. “I’ll do some research, get back to you. Jean?”

“Him too,” said Neil. “We don’t know what’s happening.”

“Well let’s figure it out together then.” She leaned back in her seat. “We’re long overdue a catch-up anyway, young man. _Seven years_!”

Neil frowned at her and Andrew tensed in case he was about to say something that might make her punch him. “I’m twenty years older than you.”

She waved her hand dismissively. “Dead years don’t count, silly. I died at twenty three, you died at seventeen. I’m older.”

“I was dead before you were even born.”

“Irrelevant.” Renee tilted her head. "So it started after they found your body?"

"I suppose." Neil tapped his fingers against his thigh. Taking that for the invitation it was, Andrew brushed the back of his hand against Neil's jeans lightly, then laid his palm across it when Neil still didn't protest. They were well past asking for casual touches anyway. "I noticed it after they found my body anyway."

"I didn't notice it before that."

Renee's gaze cut to Andrew and he felt as though he shoud be shifting under the glare. He held his ground instead, feigning disinterest much to her apparent delight. She looked back at Neil.

"And Jean?"

Neil hummed. "Definitely after they found Riko's body."

"Are you ageing?"

"It's only been a couple months." He tilted his head to one side. "If I were a girl it would be easier to tell, because I suppose I'd be having periods." He lifted his hand up and settled it on top of Andrew's, then raised his other to his hair and tugged on a longer strand at the front. "I think my hair is growing again."

"All the better for you, huh, pretty boy?"

Andrew tensed, and flicked a glare over at Allison. He hadn't realised when she re-entered the room and even just the nickname was enough to make him feel like hunching over and retching into the fluffy carpet beneath his feet until there was no choice but to replace it.

"Allison."

Allison rolled her eyes and flicked her hair back over her shoulder. Even despite the casual gestures, it was clear that the clear warning in Renee's voice had permeated her head.

"Okay." Renee continued when Allison stayed silent. "Let's talk about Jean."

***

**Kevin**  
On 4th September 1972, when Natalie was almost ten years old, nobody came to pick her up after her first day of school. A concerned teacher, Mrs Stephanie Walker, called home several times but there was no response. Eventually, she drove Natalie home herself, where they found several police cars parked outside the house.

**Nicky**  
No!

**Aaron**  
It's not exciting when you do shit like that, Nicky, it's just irritating.

**Nicky**  
You're irritating.

**Aaron**  
Phenomenal comeback, Nicky. Truly. I am completely and utterly wrecked.

**Nicky**  
I was meant to escape the sarcasm when Andrew went on a romantic getaway with his boyfriend!

**Kevin**  
Oi!

**Aaron**  
Sorry, Kev.

**Kevin**  
It turned out that whilst Natalie was at school that day, Roger Cartwright was arrested for, uh... _indecent images of children_.

**Nicky**  
Wait, what the _fuck_? Was it Natalie?

**Kevin**  
They never released the identities of the children, since they were, you know - _children_. But a newspaper article _was_ released that said his partner was distraught and calling for a reinvestigation, so one would _hope_ that it didn't include her. Either way, I would've been straight out of there.

**Aaron**  
What a shitty mother. And coming from me, that's saying a _lot_.

**Nicky**  
Can't you wait for therapy to get into your mummy issues?

**Aaron**  
No. No I cannot. Suffer.

**Kevin**  
Right.

So on the 4th September, Roger Cartwright was arrested for possession of indecent images of children. On the 21st September, Stephanie Walker noted that Natalie didn't turn up to school again. That was the sixth time since Cartwright's arrest. She made a note with the administration team and they called her mother at home, but received no response. They tried again for days afterwards but found nothing. Finally, on the 2nd October, Stephanie Walker walked around to the Shields house to see if everything was okay.

She knocked on the door and it opened very slightly. Like, just a crack I guess. And it was Natalie that answered the door, not her mother. Stephanie asked if her mother was in and Natalie said that she was sleeping. Stephanie then asked why Natalie wasn't in school that day and Natalie coughed and said she was sick.

**Aaron**  
So it was fake?

**Kevin**  
Stephanie has since said that she wasn't sure, but she thought that it was probably fake.

Anyway, there wasn't much she could do so she told Natalie to get better soon and that she was hoping to see her the following day. When Natalie still didn't return for the rest of the week, Stephanie returned with the police.

**Nicky**  
Damn, Stephanie goes hard.

**Aaron**  
Was that the right thing to do though?

**Kevin**  
What do you mean?

**Aaron**  
Well think about it, yeah. If there's no way to get the child out, confronting the parent can actually bring consequences down on them that the child will suffer for.

**Kevin**  
Aaron?

**Aaron**  
Nicky's parents called the police on my mum one time and, uh... well, it was bad.

**Nicky**  
Shit, Aaron. Fuck, I'll edit that out.

**Aaron**  
No, it's okay. It's actually important that people are aware of this sort of thing.

**Nicky**  
PSA: if you're going to confront somebody for abuse, make sure you have a way to get the victim out so that they don't receive backlash for it.

**Kevin**  
Fuck, I didn't realise we'd become an education channel. Should we talk about the dangers of gang activity whilst we're already on the topic of PSAs.

Oh, and by the way, Aaron, it's okay. Stephanie Walker already had a foster license and she was perfectly capable and willing to take in Natalie as her own should the living situation be found to be negligent, as it was.

**Aaron**  
Good.

**Kevin**  
Unfortunately, Natalie wasn't there when Stephanie and the police arrived. They questioned Charlotte about it and she said that Natalie was gone forever.

Obviously the police arrested her and later pulled her in for questioning, but it was quickly determined that she had not killed Natalie. It was likely, however, that she had been abusive and negligent towards her, a crime which she would later confess to and serve time in prison for. She later died in prison.

***

"Okay, so let's think this through logically." Renee leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. "You were killed by your father in 1953."

"Thanks, Ren." Neil wrinkled his nose. "Totally not a sore spot for me or anything. Not at all."

"Sorry." She shrugged. "You... _graduated_ in 1953. Sixty seven years later your body was discovered and you came back to life. Jean graduated in 1953 also. Again, sixty seven years later, _Riko's_ body was discovered and Jean came back to life." She tilted her head to one side, humming. "Do you think it's something to do with the year 1953 and the number sixty seven?"

"Doubt it." He frowned. "It seems like just a coincidence that we graduated and flunked the same year."

Andrew sighed. "I was going to ignore it. What's with the graduating analogy?"

"Well," said Renee, a mischievous gleam in her eyes not dissimilar to the one she'd had earlier when they'd walked in on her and her partners. "It's a higher level of existence. You lifers wouldn't understand."

"Renee, stop making it sound like we have our own culture." Neil groaned, bending forward over his knees in exaggerated frustration. "None of us have a fucking clue what's going on."

"K might."

Neil opened his mouth and then closed it. "K has been dodging everyone for years. _Decades_ , Renee."

"Don't be dramatic, she hasn't been dead for decades."

"Who the fuck is K?"

Neil looked over at him, opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish. He looked dumb, Andrew mused. He was irrationally fond of his idiot.

"Someone we all look up to," said Renee finally. "All of us living the ghost lifestyle."

"So many of those words contradicted each other."

Renee turned hazel eyes to Neil, but raised her hand to point at Andrew. "I like him. He can stay. You can keep him."

"You couldn't tell me what to do anyway." Neil rolled his eyes. "Can we get back to the matter at hand please?"

"The matter at hand is something neither of us could possibly figure out." She sighed, flopping back against the sofa. " _K_ could."

"K doesn't want to be bothered," snapped Neil.

Renee went quiet. Not the reserved, abashed quiet of somebody's whose been scolded, but rather the comfortable silence of somebody who is reflecting on the conversation.

"You know where she is."

"Yes."

"Does he know?"

Neil sighed. "Of course not."

"Do I know what?" Andrew glared at Neil, but for once, Neil was keeping his mouth shut. He turned to Renee. "Look. We came here because Neil said you could offer insight. Can you do that or are we heading out?"

"Okay, okay." Renee hummed. "Look, you're the one in contact with K. You talk to her, I'll talk to the lovebirds, and we'll arrange a meeting... sometime?"

"I have your number." Neil shrugged. "And Jean's, and the lovebirds'."

"Who are the lovebirds?"

Renee ignored Andrew, and he was almost affronted. "You said you and Jean flunked after you completed your unfinished business, right?"

"I mean, I don't think I put it like that, but... Yeah, I guess." Neil leaned back in his seat. "What's yours?"

***

**Kevin**  
There were a few alleged sightings of Natalie afterwards. In 1975, three years after her disappearance, an elderly woman claimed that she'd seen Natalie robbing a corner shop with two older men. For some reason, the security footage in the shop for that day was deleted so it could never be confirmed whether or not the girl was young Natalie.

**Aaron**  
How did they delete the footage?

**Kevin**  
We don't know if they _did_ delete the footage.

**Nicky**  
How did _who_ delete the footage?

**Aaron**  
The gang that we're pretty sure Natalie was sold to. _Probably_.

**Nicky**  
Hold on...

Have you two been forming theories _without_ me? Dick. Move.

**Kevin**  
Well... we were there. We'd done some research. Thought we might as well.

**Nicky**  
Seriously, what the fuck am I missing here?

**Kevin**  
The next alleged sighting was 1979, when Natalie would've been seventeen years old. There was a shooting at an event in a hall in town. There were four deaths, and seven casualties. One of the injured citizens claimed that one of the shooters was Natalie Shields, but that she stayed at the back and tried to avoid actually shooting anyone.

**Nicky**  
Does that make it okay?

**Aaron**  
She was a fucking abuse victim, Nicky. I doubt she had much choice in being there, it was probably either them or her.

**Nicky**  
But she still shot people?

**Kevin**  
Can I finish my fucking thought?

**Aaron**  
Sorry, Kev.

**Nicky**  
Seriously, do the two of you have some sort of best friends club that I'm not apart of now that Neil and Andrew aren't here?

**Kevin**  
Sure.

Anyway, it could never be confirmed if that was her or not either. There were a few more alleged sightings in the years after that, but it was pretty much assumed that the majority of them were hoaxes. After 1985, there were no more sightings reported.

**Aaron**  
God, that poor girl.

**Nicky**  
You two clearly have theories. Go ahead.

**Aaron**  
Oh, us? Theories? No, we would never-

**Nicky**  
Shut up and give us your theories, blondie.

**Aaron**  
God damn, okay, you didn't need to bring my hair colour into it. Fine. Kev, you start.

***

"Daniel 'Danny' Larson," said Renee, pursing her lips.

Neil hummed. "He was with you when you shot up that shop."

"We didn't shoot it up." She scowled. "There was a singular shot fired!"

"And who was that?"

Renee hummed in discontent. " _Anyway_... he was the worst of them all. Liked to come at me with knives and dicks."

"Dicks plural?"

She spat on the ground. "Piece of shit. Anyway, if I have any unfinished business, it's him. He was the one who killed me in the end."

"I can't believe that it's true that ghosts exist because of unfinished business." Andrew sighed. "This is truly tragic. You're fucking stereotypes."

Humming her disagreement, she tilted her head. "A polyamorous, bisexual ghost who died in a gang fight and wants revenge on her abuser, while also doing her best to heal and help other people heal from their trauma is a stereotype?"

Silence rang out for a moment, broken - inevitably - by Neil. "I would watch that movie."

She laughed, throwing her head back. "I've forgotten what good fun you are, pet."

"Is he still alive?"

Renee's lips twitched, and she threw her phone towards Neil. His reactions, clearly, were not in peak condition today, as it would've gone flying straight into his face had Andrew not reached out to intercept it.

"Sloppy."

"Asshole."

Neil reached out and took the phone from Andrew, scrolling down a little until he saw the picture, an older man giving out hats to a group of small children, all of them smiling. He almost snarled out loud.

He remembered Danny Larson, remembered loud laughter as the cashier - a _child_ \- was practically shitting himself, and hands stuffed full of notes disappearing into his pocket. He remembered a twisted smile just before a sharp backhand, and colour blooming across Natalie's cheeks. He remembered leaving the room because he couldn't stand to watch what was happening and know that there was nothing he could do about it.

"So what? You want him caught?"

Renee sneered, and Neil thought she looked so like Natalie in that moment that it hurt. "I want him _dead_."

Andrew would've made some sort of comment - maybe even calling Renee "edgy" - but a loud ringing came from his pocket and he had to take a moment to sigh before answering his phone.

"Nicky, I swear to God-"

"Not Nicky." Andrew huffed in frustration. He recognised the voice, and he hated it. It wasn’t that he particularly enjoyed Nicky’s company and banter – he did, but he wasn’t about to admit that – but rather that it was disappointing to think that he was about to have a nice debate with Nicky about whatever he was frustrated about today and to instead be confront by a different, more grating voice.

"Fine, _Kevin_ , what do you want?" He squeezed at Neil's thigh gently, mostly because he had an unhealthy obsession with his thighs. The rest of Neil was a string bean - his thighs were strong and muscular.

"We've done your fucking video idea. _Without_ you." Kevin didn't ask a question, so Andrew said nothing and finally Kevin scoffed. "When are you coming back?"

"Not yet."

"And where the fuck are you?"

Neil tugged the phone out of Andrew's hands. He would've protested but Kevin had an attitude and Andrew wasn't keen to deal with it, especially not when he’d thought he would be dealing with a _different_ kind of attitude. He did want to protest about the fact that Neil stood up, meaning that Andrew’s hand fell away from the muscular thighs that he was so in love with.

"Jamestown, North Dakota."

Kevin went quiet for a moment. "Neil, what the fuck-?"

"Come join us here and we'll explain." Neil tilted his head.

On the other side of the phone, he heard mumbled Japanese, and assumed that Kevin was cursing him out. "That's a day's drive without stops."

"Split the driving between you and Nicky," said Neil. "Whoever's not driving can sleep in the back. Or you could just fly."

Kevin scoffed. "What the fuck is even in Jamestown that makes it so important for us to be there?"

Neil glanced over at Renee. "Natalie Shields."

"Seriously, Neil, what the fu-whatever. Fine. We'll fly in. Maybe you'll tell us what the fuck is going on with you once we're there."

Neil wondered how long it would take to convince Kevin. Kevin liked facts, liked statistics, liked the truth laid out in front of him like a timeline from one event to the next. In all honesty, Neil had wondered how Kevin could be so comfortable – happy, even – with these videos. Videos with no good ending, with no conclusion. Except, he supposed, that they _did_ have conclusions. They had found Nathaniel’s body, Riko’s body had been found. If all went well, Neil thought they could get Daniel Larson to confess to Natalie’s murder.

He supposed it was fortunate, really, for Kevin that one of his best friends just so happened to be a ghost. Or ghost-adjacent anyway.

“You won’t regret it,” he said finally, but Kevin only hummed before ending the call.

Neil passed the phone back to Andrew, who slid it into his pocket without another word as Neil sat back down. Renee looked between them for a moment, her head tilted, before she fixed her gaze onto Neil, piercing through his skin with just a sharp stare.

“Kevin Day.” She hummed thoughtfully. “Allison thinks he’s pretty good-looking.”

“He’s also phenomenally taken,” said Neil, flicking a quick glance towards Allison. “Terminally taken. You might even say he’s been… Aaron-ested.”

“That was terrible.”

Neil shrugged, sending a painfully fond look in Andrew’s direction. “I like dad jokes.”

“We are not adopting a cat! We travel too much for you to be a cat dad!”

He sat back with a huff, crossing his arms and pouting so intently that Allison appeared to be taking notes. Andrew rolled his eyes, setting his hand on Neil’s thigh once again.

“Maybe if you stopped dragging me around like some sort of ghost vigilante-!”

“Well now you’re just being ridiculous.” Neil rolled his eyes, but when he turned to Andrew there was a mischievous look flittering across his face. “You and I both know that you like helping people more than I do.”

“Bullshit.”

“No, he’s right,” said Renee with a thoughtful nod, “I’m very good at reading people.”

“Go fuck yourself, pillow princess.” Andrew glared at Renee but she didn’t appear offended. In fact, she threw her head back and laughed a surprisingly bright laugh for somebody who had lived through the tragedy she had.

Next to her, Allison smirked and leaned back, spreading her legs a little in a movement that immediately drew Renee’s eyes. “Oh trust me, she is most definitely _not_ a pillow princess.”

“Ew.” Neil wrinkled his nose.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never got down on your knees for monster boy here,” chuckled Allison and Neil’s cheeks flushed. Andrew wouldn’t have paid it any mind except that it proved, once again, that Neil was alive, that his heart was beating, and his blood was pumping. More than that, it made Andrew wonder how often he would’ve blushed when they’d first started dating. He imagined it was a lot.

“I don’t wanna talk about my sex life.” Neil said it so matter-of-factly, so simply. Andrew wondered if anything had ever been that simple for him.

“Boo,” whined Allison. “I’ve been wondering for so long if you’d be a top or a bottom, don’t do this to me now!”

“ _Allison_.”

She sighed, shaking her head. “Whatever. Your loss. You missed out on essential gossip time.”

“Essential?”

“Fuck _off_ , carrot top!”

***

**Kevin**  
Before Aaron and I talk about some theories, you might’ve noticed the change of scenery. We’ve been summoned by the _lovely_ Neil Josten to Jamestown, North Dakota, where this case took place and where we’re driving to right now. We don’t know why, don’t know if he’s got somewhere for us to stay or if we’ll have to find a motel last-minute-

**Nicky**  
-don’t know what Kevin and Aaron are hiding from me-

**Aaron**  
-and you never will.

**Kevin**  
 _The point is_ we are not where we’ve been for the majority of the video. And it’s Neil and Andrew’s fault. So cancel them.

**Nicky**  
Ke- _vin_.

**Kevin**  
Fine. Let’s talk about the theories that Aaron and I were discussing.

The first, which Aaron brought up earlier, is that Natalie was sold to a gang that ruled the drug trade in Jamestown at the time. This works with the sighting at the corner shop, where she was robbing it with two older men. It would also explain why she allegedly hung back at the hall shooting, as she probably wouldn’t have particularly wanted to be there.

**Aaron**  
It makes a lot of sense all around, since the gang owned the drug trade and Natalie’s mother was a known drug-abuser. If Charlotte Shields ran out of money for drugs with her partner in jail, it would make plenty of sense for her to sell Natalie to them in return for her debt to be paid or even in exchange for more drugs. If that was an option, I know _my_ mum would’ve done it.

**Nicky**  
God, every time you bring up your childhood it makes me so sad. Do you want a hug, Aaron?

**Aaron**  
God, no. Also, you’re driving.

**Nicky**  
What’s your point?

**Aaron**  
 _Anyway_ … That’s the biggest theory we’ve got.

**Nicky**  
Any others?

**Kevin**  
I wanted to consider the idea that maybe her mother actually _did_ kill her and was just extremely good at tricking the police.

**Aaron**  
I actually like this theory. I mean, I don’t _like_ it. I hate the idea that her mother was so neglectful and abusive that she could do actually kill her daughter and then lie about it so easily. But growing up, there were so many times when I thought my mother would go too far and I wouldn’t wake up the next morning.

On another note, I got really invested in this case. When Josten brought it up, I wasn’t convinced, but this really got to me. Fucking Josten.

**Nicky**  
That’s so heart-breaking. Can I cut _that_ one out?

**Aaron**  
Nicky, I know you’re trying to protect my privacy, but I wouldn’t say this shit if I cared about people hearing it. I’ve been to therapy plenty, I’m doing fine.

**Nicky**  
Alright, _Neil_.

**Kevin**  
There’s a third theory but it’s a little out there.

**Nicky**  
Aliens?

**Kevin**  
No.

**Nicky**  
Monsters?

**Kevin**  
No, seriously, Nicky, what the fuck?

**Aaron**  
He’s just trying to subtly mention the fact that he’s a monster-fucker, just leave him to it.

**Kevin**  
Anyway… Our third theory is that she ran away and joined a secret society of abused children. We would’ve liked to tie this into the Nathaniel case, except obviously Nathaniel died before Natalie was even born. Still, we liked the idea that people who were never shown the love they deserved could find a family in each other.

**Nicky**  
Ugh, stop, you’re going to make me weep.

**Aaron**  
Please no.

***

When the car pulled up outside Allison’s mansion, Neil was the only one outside waiting. Nicky, who was settled in the back, immediately jumped out and ran to hug Neil which, to his surprise, didn’t cause a flinch. Aaron waited for Kevin to lock the car, and they walked up together. Neil looked between them and then rolled his eyes, turning back to the house and leading them in.

They were immediately taken in by the beautiful entranceway, the exact opposites of Andrew who hadn’t even seemed to notice. He led them past the grand staircase and out to the conservatory. Neil had only left a few minutes ago to meet them at the door, but in that time, Andrew and Renee had moved from calm gossip (mostly about Neil, to his dismay) to sparring in the middle of the room.

Nicky let out an audible gasp but it was Neil clearing his throat that caught their attention. He gestured vaguely with one hand as they broke apart.

“Renee, this is Aaron Minyard, Nicky Hemmick and Kevin Day. You three, this is Renee Walker, or as she was previously known, Natalie Shields.”

The moment of silence that followed was startling, broken up eventually by a choked sound coming from Kevin. “What the _fuck_ , Neil?”

“Natalie Shields is either dead,” said Aaron slowly, “or around sixty years old.”

“Yes,” said Neil slowly. “But Nathaniel would be eighty-six and, well…”

Kevin turned to look at Neil and then visibly paled. In a strange way, it was almost impressive how the little colour he had managed to leave him in one quick motion. He stumbled back dramatically, flailing out towards Aaron, who caught him with one hand.

“You can’t be Nathaniel, he’s _dead_!”

“Well,” hummed Neil, tilting his head. “Dead- _ish_.”

“How the fuck are you here?”

Neil grinned. “Well, when a psychopath and a Brit get married for reasons beyond logical comprehension, sometimes they fuck and a tiny red-headed asshole pops out.”

“Tiny red-headed asshole is a perfect description of you,” commented Aaron. “But there is no way that _you_ are _Nathaniel Wesninski_.”

“You told Andrew where to find the body.” Nicky seemed to recover his voice, and his simple statement caught everyone’s attention. “Back in Millport,” he expanded. “You didn’t think anybody noticed, but I saw you watching the plank. I thought maybe it was a weird sort of sixth sense, but now…” He turned to Renee. “So you’re Natalie Shields?”

“In the flesh.” Renee frowned. “Well… sort of. And I _prefer_ Renee Walker.”

“Are you… zombies… or something?” Kevin struggled through the question, flushing again when Andrew snorted audibly. “ _What_?”

“Technically, we’d call ourselves ghosts,” said Renee lightly. “Earlier, I said living-challenged as a joke but it’s pretty accurate, seeing as we can apparently come back to life.”

“What do you mean?” Kevin turned a sharp gaze on her, his eyes hungry in a way that they often weren’t unless it came to history or true crime. “You’re alive?”

“No, don’t be silly.” Renee shook her head. “ _Neil_ is. And Jean.”

“Jean?” Nicky furrowed his eyebrows. “Like the cute Frenchman we met filming our last video?”

“The very same,” confirmed Renee.

“Although,” cut in Neil, “I think you know him best as _Petit Oiseau_.”

“Little Bird?” Kevin’s eyes widened. “The boy who was killed in the Evermore Massacre?”

“That’s the one.” Neil smiled mischievously. “Making ghost jokes with him without the rest of you understanding was incredible.”

“You’re a little shit,” sighed Aaron. “Why should we believe you?”

Neil hesitated. “Don’t look back, don’t slow down. Never be anyone for too long.”

“That was what ‘Mary’ told us.”

“It was her.” He looked down, shaking a little at the memory until Andrew’s grounding touch on the back of his neck brought him out of his own thoughts. “It was what she said to me when we were on the run. I stayed in Millport for about a year as Neil Josten, and then my father and the Malcolms found me, tortured me and…” Neil shuddered, leaning into Andrew’s hand. “Well, you saw the bones. I was still alive for most of it. When my mother saw me there, she liked gloating.”

“Wait, you can’t see her?” Aaron frowned. “What’s that about, fuckface?”

Neil shrugged. “I don’t know. Unfinished business?”

“That’s what brought them back to life,” added Andrew. “Neil’s body was found, Jean’s murderer was found.”

“So what about you?” Nicky turned to Renee. “What’s your unfinished business?”

Renee sneered. “Daniel Larson,” she said. “Human piece of garbage who liked getting his dick out for little girls, and liked emptying bullets into the ones that fought back.”

“He’s the one that killed you.” Nicky sounded more sombre than Neil had ever heard him, and it was a strange contrast to how he usually was. “You want revenge?”

“Wouldn’t you?”

Nicky nodded. “Absolutely.”

“Why are you all believing this so easily?” Kevin threw his hands up in the air. “Neil cannot be a ghost!”

Neil sighed. Rather than saying anything more, he turned and walked directly through the door, waited for a cry of horror from the other side, and returned. Kevin was clutching onto Aaron’s wrist, eyes wide as he stared at the place where Neil had disappeared through.

“Believe me now?”

***

**Kevin**  
So, we’re here now with Andrew and Neil, which we now have a reason for-

**Nicky**  
 _But_ before we get into that, wanna say hi, you two?

**Neil**  
Hi, everyone. We’re back.

**Andrew**  
We hate it.

**Nicky**  
Tell us about your romantic getaway!

**Andrew**  
No.

**Nicky**  
Fair enough, take it away.

**Neil**  
We were kind of looking around here, seeing what sort of people lived here to try and compare to the seventies and eighties when this case was ongoing, and we found an older man. When we tried to ask him about Jamestown in that time, he immediately confessed to the murder of Natalie Shields.

**Aaron**  
Sounds far-fetched.

**Andrew**  
No, this sort of weird shit happens to Neil all the time.

**Neil**  
Exactly. It all started when I met this really great guy called Andrew Minyard-

**Andrew**  
Shut up, Rabbit.

**Neil**  
Anyway, we went to the police and he confessed again, gave details. So this case is officially solved, I guess.

Basically, after her mother’s partner was arrested, she was sold to a gang in Jamestown, the same one that had been supplying her mother with drugs. At first, she was just a drug mule, transporting and dealing around town. Then, as she got older, she got involved in more robberies and shootings. In 1985, Natalie Shields was killed in a gang fight. Daniel Larson, the perpetrator, said that they were on the same side, but that she had rejected his advances and he was angry so, in the chaos, he shot her twice in the head. Her body was never found, because both gangs agreed to cover it all up. Several other people died that day, apparently.

**Kevin**  
Buuuuut… you know what this means?

**Nicky**  
Yes, yes, you were right, your theory was correct. Woohoo. Come get me when you’re done being smug.

**Kevin**  
I’m just saying-!

**Nicky**  
 _Anyway_ … that was the case of Natalie Shields. A true tragedy finally put to rest. Wherever you are, if there’s a next life or not, I hope it’s peaceful.

***

“So, what’s next?” Nicky rounded the corner, glancing at Neil in the rear view mirror. “I’m guessing you’ve got more ghost friends that want their unfinished business settled?”

Neil nodded, resting his shoulder against Andrew’s. “A few.” He tilted his head to one side. “I know exactly who I want to help out next.”

“So… anyone exciting?” Nicky shuffled in the driver’s seat. “A kidnapping? A murder? A cult sacrifice?”

Neil bared his teeth in a cold imitation of a grin. “My best friend.”


End file.
